Taste Bud Heaven

There are very few meals that I stuff myself with; Carbonara is one, and, as it turns out, this Gorgonzola-Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Strawberry Gastrique recipe.  Normally I can eat enough to satisfy hunger and be done, but the flavors in this recipe are a real treat for the taste buds.

My husband isn't a real fan of fruit-with-meat dishes, so it won't be a regular fixture on our meal table, but this recipe is definitely going in the "Keeper" pile.

I served it over a bed of wilted spinach, with a salad.

Make Ahead

Tonight's dinner was about planning ahead.  I had a meeting at the same time as the rest of the family had Tae Kwon Do, and I wasn't going to be home to feed everyone when they got home.  I needed something for dinner that could be prepared ahead and baked at a pre-programmed time (I love my programmable oven).

This Three Cheese Penne recipe worked really well for that. Make sure to choose a good quality sausage, or at least one you trust - I didn't and the sausage gave it a funny flavor.  It could also work with ground beef, but I usually try to stick to a recipe when it's the first try. I can take artistic license in the future.

I'll probably try this one again.  It's a good one-dish dinner, and it would also be a good take-along for potlucks.  It's pretty easy to prepare and doesn't take that much time.  It also gave me a chance to use some of my CSA tomatoes and green peppers.
 

Barbecue Chicken

As the leaves start to turn colors and the air starts to cool, I'm grasping at summertime straws. It's too cold for a dip in the lake (unless you're a polar bear) so it's back to the grill I go.

I really like chicken on the grill, but I don't like it when it gets dried out and stringy. Marinades, sauces, and glazes help a lot. The challenge is finding a sauce that isn't super sweet, and this Mustard Glaze fits the bill. I'll definitely do this sauce again; it's easy to make, and it will be fun to see if I can "kick it up a notch".

Dinner Surprise

I always enjoy it when a recipe surprises me (for the better). I have tried Mexican-style casseroles in the past and they have always been a disappointment. This Beef and Bean Taco Casserole turned out to be a real winner.

I used fresh local (CSA) ingredients for as much as I could (tomatoes, peppers, and ingredients for the salsa which I did homemade), and the beef came from our grass-fed half steer.  The end result was surprisingly yummy and left us with barely enough leftover for a Sunday snack.  Success!

That's a Mouthful!

Dinner tonight has a long name; "Chicken Scaloppine with Sugar Snap Pea, Asparagus, and Lemon Salad".  I served it with rice (for my daughter), and I doubled the gravy (for my husband).  After dinner, I sneaked a Dove chocolate "Promise" (for me, and my son). There.  Something for everyone.

Crockpot Cookin'

I had a craving for a ham dinner this week. I don't often crave ham, but my taste buds were really speaking to me and "ham" is what they were saying.  So, I bought a small McKenzie ham and then went looking for a simple scalloped or au gratin potato dish to go with it.  This recipe is what I tried.  I use an "organic" (less salty, more flavorful) cream of mushroom soup, so mine didn't turn out quite as creamy as this picture shows it, but the flavor was still good.  I still prefer another recipe that I have, but it was worth trying something new...just in case.

I Am Totally Jammin'!

This morning my refrigerator was full of food that needed my attention. So, with exception of two trips out of the house to pick up kids from school and run a couple of errands, I have been working in the kitchen.

I have put up green beans, leeks, zucchini, rotkohl (German for red cabbage), chives, parsley, and salsa.

Now I can add Plum Jam to the list.  See?  I'm really jammin' today!

Tiptoe Through Tomatoes

Come on, sing along. Huh? You don't know that song?  Oh, you heard it with tulips, not tomatoes?  Well, I don't have any tulips, but I DO have tomatoes.  Let's sing!

Well, okay.  We can sing later.

Then let me tell you about this Salsa.  First, I have to say that I'm not really that much of a tomato eater.  I remember eating really tasty tomatoes from my grandmother's garden when I was young.  I still wasn't keen on them, but if you haaad to eat a tomato, those were the ones.  They tasted like...tomato.  I think the reason I don't like tomatoes that well is because most of the ones I have had in my life were picked shortly after the blossom fell off the plant, looong before the tomato was ripe.  My grandmother's would practically fall off the vine into the basket.  They had a deep intense red color to them, unlike the pinkish greenish tint of grocery store varieties today.

Okay, so enough complaining.  After all, the tomatoes that I used for this salsa were picked on Monday and are beautifully ripe.  The onion, Cilantro, and peppers were also fresh from the garden.  The onion and peppers were picked on Monday.  The Cilantro was cut about an hour ago.

I didn't have any Serrano or Jalapeño peppers, so I used the (I think they're Banana) peppers that I picked at our CSA this week, plus a few that were given to me by our contractor who keeps a big garden every year.  They give a nice 'kick' to the flavor.

The recipe is easy and the flavor is dynamite...and that's coming from a reluctant tomato eater.