Summer Entertaining

This weekend was kind of a bust but we salvaged Friday night with a few friends for an impromptu evening of conversation. We started the night with a bit of Sangria and then mixed appetizers including some Fajita nachos. The evening got a little cooler but the company was warm and interesting. Thank goodness since Saturday it must have rained an inch or two.

The Sangria:

1 bottle of Merlot

2 cans of Ginger Ale

1 can sliced pinapple with juice

1/2 pound of sliced strawberries

1/2 bag frozen berries

2 organges sliced 1/4 inch

We are loving the new patio although not quite finished to our liking but we are working on it!



Creamy White Balsamic Dressing

LAst night was hectic again with Kenzie moving and painting so dinner was a throw together of grilled Large Shrimps and and easy salad. when we were at Coco's last week we had a Creamy Balsamic dressing that was sweet and very nice so I attempted to copy it. I was close but the recipe needs work

2 T White Balsamic Vinegar
1T mayo
1 t Dijon
2 t Preserves. I used Apricot, the recipe called for Orange Marmalade
2 T Oil
1/4 c cream
S & P to taste although I found the dressing salty already

We topped mixed greens and spinach with walnuts and Blue Cheese crumbles. Made a great salad. I may adjust things in the future.

The dressing I use for that raw broccoli salad with bacon, red onion and cashews is just Mayo, balsamic vinegar and sugar. That would be pretty good just as a salad dressing too. Hmmm....

Chicken Picatta

Easy peasy. I had a few boneless chicken breasts in the freezer that I took out in anticipation of making something for dinner. Brenda had mentioned the other day when I had made Veal Saltimbucca that she hadn't had this in a while. The Veal had a sauce based in white wine but this has a sauce based on lemons and I had a few laying about.

I brined the chicken before I know what I was going to do but it really helps keep it moist even in a dish like this.  I butterflied each breast all the way through and made 4 thin cutlets.  Dredged in flour and sauteed in olive oil and  butter. til;l golden and set aside and kept warm.

To the pan with some browned flour and a bit of drippings left over I added 1/3 c lemon juice and 1/2 c chicken stock and reduced that a bit till it thickened. The leftover browned flour really helps this process. I added 1 small pat of butter then about 1/4 c capers that had been rinsed. i poured the sauce over the warm chicken and served.

Delish!

Food and odd weather and lazy days

Firstly we went back to J. Coco's on Friday to celebrate our 32nd anniversary. We had a great bottle of wine and did not indulge in all the extras as the last visit served plenty of food.  We ordered a nice Washington State wine that was spicy with clove and cinnamon. A lovely Cabernet called Seven Falls Wahluke Slope.
 I had the Duck while my lovely bride had the 3 fillet medallions. We both had the wedge salad which was great and did not order an extra veggie just stuck with what came with the meal. It was very filling. the duck was sublime and crispy. So delicious!

 The weekend came and went without much fanfare.  We were going out of town then decided against it and shopped ourselves silly but bought hardly anything. Found a few more plants for the backyard, cooked a nice flat iron Saturday night which I sliced and used on this pizza:

It was just so tasty with Heinz 57 sauce and blue cheese to compliment the steak, mushrooms and fresh mozzarella.  On our outing we had run across some sale meats that looked tempting for jerky so I marinaded the meat and forgot about it till late Sunday. That meant drying in the over overnight. The smell of jerky all night kept waking me and making my stomach growl. in the morning before work today this is what I reaped for all my efforts:

It was mighty tasty when I tested several strips for quality assurance!

I have a convection oven that allows me to run the fan at lower temps. I generally marinate the meat in a mixture of soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, seasoned salt, pepper and garlic powder with a squirt of Siracha. I spray a few metal racks with cooking spray and lay them on lined baking pans. It takes a good 8 to 12 hours to dry out the meat. This week we found thin cut Milanese and a thicker round steak cut about 3/16 of an inch thick. The thinner meat would have benefited from a shorter session as it turned out crispier than I care for but still tasty.

Eating Omaha ...J. Coco

Last night I had a meeting at J. Coco for a lecture on a drug we use in the Cath Lab a lot. The lecture was the usual fare, well done and easy to understand.

The food was fantastic. We started with a round of appetizers. Tempura Calamari, Korean Style Short Rib Tacos and Seared Yellow Fin Tuna.  The dinner started off with a Seven Hills Cabernet that was spicy and fruity.  For the entree's the choices were limited to a few menu items but some of the best ones. Ben and I had the Medallions of Beef with various sides. He had Mac and Cheese and I have the shaved Brussels Sprouts. Both were delicious. The Mac and Cheese was very reminiscent of Ryan's Bistro here in Omaha.

The 3 Medallions were each served with a different topping. The portions were perfect. One covered with creamed spinach, another with a lobster cream and the last with mushrooms all on a bed of potato latkes. The Sprouts came in a separate bowl garnished with Marcona Almonds. Shredded and roasted in a cream sauce, they were very good.

The rest of the crowd had ordered Cedar Plank Salmon which also looked great. There are many items of the menu that look worth a try and I made reservations for next Friday for our 32nd anniversary. Looking forward to it.  The neighborhood is quaint and remodeled. The site used to be a grocery that has since moved Mid Town and they did an excellent job decorating the place. Very warm and modern at the same time. The wait staff was doting and friendly. Nice place.

Pork Belly worth a shot?

Created by: Dax Phillips on April 12th, 2011 - Categories: Appetizers, Chinese, Delicious, Filipino, Game Day, Kids, Pork, Sauce

The Chinese make their version of crispy pork belly, as do the Filipinos. The Filipino version of crispy pork belly is known as lechon kawali, however, I wanted to get a crispy pork without having to fry anything. After all, there is  plenty of top fat on the pork belly, allowing you to roast the pork to perfection. If yo have never tried this at a restaurant, now is your chance. Not only is this recipe really simple, but it is a great snack that almost anyone who likes pork is going to love.
Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of pork belly
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper
• 1/2 tbsp sea salt
• 1/2 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp Chinese Five Spice
• 1 tbsp Chinese Black Bean Chili Paste

Begin by scoring your pork belly. With a sharp knife slice into the fat, making cross marks, just deep enough to not cut through the pork. Poke the bottom and side of the pork, making incisions throughout the pork.
Mix the all of the ingredients, with the exception of the salt and vinegar. Place the pork in a large ziplock bag, and pour in the mixed ingredients. Seal and begin massaging the pork, getting the mixture rubbed into the pork. Rub it well. Let sit in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, but overnight if you can.

When you are ready to cook the pork, remove it from the bag and place fat side up on a large baking sheet covered with foil and lined with a grated baking rack.
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
Take some paper towel and completely dry or remove any moisture from the top fat. Sprinkle with the salt and brush the vinegar on top of the fat.
Place the baking sheet with the pork in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. The time pretty much begins to brown and crispy up the pork while some of that goodness drips down onto the pork itself, adding more flavor.
After the 30 minutes, reduce the heat to 350 degrees and cook for one hour.
Remove the sheet from the oven and let cool. When you are ready to serve, cut into bite sized pieces and serve with the following:
Dipping Sauce:

• 1/4 cup of soy sauce
• pinch of red chili flakes
• pinch of black pepper

Not only are these crispy pork belly nuggets addicting, but they are so delicious. I had a whole table of kids gobbling them down, they were that great! Enjoy.

Outdoor life

It's that time of year for chilling on the patio. While it is not quite 100% as of yet but the urge is too hard to resist. We bought a super comfortable patio set and the grass is coming in nicely if a little patchy. We are replanting some of the things we lost last year due to the work being done and have been financing several nurseries throughout the region with our purchases. This year though, we are shopping way smarter and buying baskets of sale plants to divide up instead of individual plantings.  The Farmer's Market at Aksarben had a wealth of herbs and the like. So we are patiently waiting for the days of heat and humidity to wash over us but meanwhile we are enjoying the temperate season in the present.

Dinner with Nick

I had been told that Nicholas would come for dinner, so I stopped at the market on the way home and bought a few thing I needed anyway. The Chicken Thighs at $.99 a pound appeals to my frugal side and I love that recipe I posted from Alex Guarnaschelli for the BBQ Chicken. Love it.  I paired it with some fresh snow peas and mushrooms but I didn't like what I did to them so much. They were tasty but the Asian treatment was not called for. Should have just left them sauteed and buttered.

 For my lovely bride who likes drier white meat, I bought some breasts and treated them the same as the thighs but I boned the breasts and left the skin covering.

The recipe is here and if you have not yet tried it, please do. So darn tasty.



Divine Inspirations...food for the heart and soul: BBQ Chicken.......indoors

Great Sandwich

I had a bit of grilled chicken, a nicely ripe avocado and a delicious tomato just waiting to be used. On the agenda then was a bit of Tarragon Chicken Salad with some red onion and a little celery. Just cube the chicken and add a splash of lemon juice, a scant teaspoon of tarragon and a few tablespoons of mayo.

I found whole wheat rolls at the market  and layered a  roll with a slice of Swiss, tomato, avocado and then chicken salad. Wonderful and I used most of the stuff left in the fridge.

Does that look tasty?

The rest of the weekend was a blur of garden shopping spending money and then spending more money. We sat on the patio and had supper Saturday night with Ben. Just grilled chops and veggies with a nice garlic mashed red potatoes. I installed the light fixture. Not 100% on the way it looks but it casts a nice glow over the table at night.

Last year I bought some solar lights on clearance so I dug those out and let them charge all day. when dusk fell it was a pleasant surprise to see there glowing orbs in the yard...so cool. We also learned a thhing or two about buying flowers. Some of the stuff is so expensive and you need so many iof them but not if you buy a pre planted basket, on sale, and divide it up! Wahoo for my lovely bride's ingenuity. We bought Petunias and Bacopa that way. We repeated the mantra Thriller, Filler and Spiller and stuck to ouor plan and ended up with some great planters for the season. The Bacopa basket was already a foot long so that is already spilling over the edge of the container. We used a hosta in one bucket as the thriller and petunias as the filler. So easy and fast.

On Sunday we got up early, did some quick running around and then headed to Kearny for a Graduation Party then back home to rest before work.  Whew! These weekends are tiring me out.

Nona's Pizza

So last night I was in the mood for food. I roasted some shrimps, took out some crab legs for Friday but what to do next? I felt like pizza but am tired of the usual fare I have been making so I used my own blog to relocate the recipe for Nona's Pizza. A great little thick crust pizza where the crust is actually "fried" in olive oil in the oven. the recipe is on this link:

Divine Inspirations...food for the heart and soul: Pizza! Pizza!


The sauce was chunky and flavorful since I have started using Glen Muir tomatoes, I might never use another can of San Marzanos. The extra large shrimps left over from Lent are really great roasted.
Good meal.