8-30-10

 Pan Blackened Mahi Mahi

Mahi Mahi fillet dusted with Cajun spice and blackened (not too "black" though) served with green beans with caramelized onions and mashed sweet & Russet potatoes. Adding "white" potatoes to sweet potato makes for a less heavy side.

The beans were REALLY good.

8-29-10

Spice Rubbed Pork Loin

Slow roasted on the grill.

Served with steamed broccoli and rice pilaf.

8-26-10

Grilled Chicken Breast

I marinated a chicken breast in a doctored store bought BBQ sauce; added cajun spice, ancho chile powder, steak sauce, cumin, hot sauce and honey - sweet & spicy. Served it with steamed broccoli and baked potato.

8-25-10

Still using up the roast pork loin from Sunday.

Pork Fried Rice

Diced pork and egg stir fried along with red pepper, carrot, snow peas, garlic, jalapeno, ginger, onion, scallion, cilantro, basil and parsley; added pre-cooked basmati rice and finished with soy, rice vinegar, sesame oil, lime juice, stock and a bit of sugar.

8-24-10

Hosted a birthday party on Sunday and am working my way through the left overs. Yesterday was sausage & meatball w/ penne.

Roast Pork Loin

Roasted pork loin with gravy, mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus and green beans from the garden. The beans were getting a bit "leggy" so I cooked them a bit longer than I normally would.

8-20-10

Pizza

A homemade crust with regular and whole wheat flour topped with tiny meatballs (beef & sausage combo)  hot peppers, red pepper, caramelized onion, diced tomato, sauteed garlic, fresh basil and a four cheese blend.

8-19-10

Baked Fillet of Cod

Cod fillet baked with a topping/relish of diced garden tomatoes & hot peppers, garlic, olive oil, fresh basil and parsley with white wine; served with roasted sweet potato and sauteed snow peas.

8-18-10

Chicken with Tomato & Basil

A breast of chicken was marinated, grilled and topped with basil leaves & tomato (from the garden); finished under the broiler with a four cheese blend. Served with a grill roasted potato and grilled zucchini & red pepper.

8-17-10

Beef & Broccoli

Thin slices of beef marinated in soy, sesame oil and mirin were stir fried with hot peppers, red pepper, scallion, ginger and garlic; finished with stock, oyster sauce, soy and fresh basil - tossed with steamed broccoli (so it isn't over cooked) and served over basmati rice.

8-16-10

Zucchini & Tomato Tian

A tian is a layered vegetable casserole, this one is zucchini, tomatoes and basil (all from the garden) layered in rows. The rows are topped with roasted garlic and caramelized onions; after the pic, it was topped with grated Asiago and baked covered and then uncovered to get a nice crust.

 Sauteed Pork Loin

A piece of pork loin sauteed and finished with a simple pan sauce of wine, stock and a touch of butter. Served it with corn on the cob (ate that first) and the finished tian.

8-15-10

An early tomato sauce with garden tomatoes - about a week early this year.

Tomatoes are all cleaned and prepped to be ground up.

 Grinding the tomatoes with the Kitchen Aid with attachments.

 Lots of fresh basil and parsley from the garden for the sauce and meatballs.

 Meatballs all roasted up and ready to go into the sauce.

Pulling out the bay leaves from the sauce after a few hours. First the roasted sausage go in and then the meatballs- still waiting to the right.

Chicken Parmesan

Couldn't resist having the sauce for dinner; made chicken Parmesan with linguine. The chicken was breaded with a panko/fine crumb blend with grated parmesan, fresh basil and parsley, saurteed In olive oil topped with a four cheese blend.

8-13-10

Bone in Chicken Kiev

A bone in version of the classic. A bone in chicken breast is breaded with a panko, fine crumb mixture with herbs and Parmesan cheese; roasted and topped with a butter/wine/fresh herb & scallion sauce. The breast was served with rice pilaf and steamed broccoli.

8-12-10

 Chopped Salad

Romaine, garden cucumber, radish, garden tomato, carrot, red onion and Cajun blackened chicken lightly dressed; served with garlic bread.

A big sauce this weekend!

8-9-10

Spice Rubbed Pork Loin

A spice blend heavy on cumin and chili powder coated pork loin that was grilled; served with roasted green beans and zucchini with roasted potatoes.

8-6-10

Sauteed Chicken and Vegetables

Sliced breast of chicken sauteed with garden zucchini, broccoli, garden green beans, red pepper, garden Hungarian wax peppers, onion and garlic; finished with white wine, stock and a bit of heavy cream all tossed with fettuccine and fresh basil and parsley from the garden.

8-5-10

 Vietnamese Pho

Ga - the chicken version

I made the stock traditionally with chicken bones/parts, ginger, lemon grass and star anise. I don't add a lot of the spices and did add bay leaf, celery and cilantro. The dish consists of the stock poured over cooked rice noodles & shredded chicken. I also added some finely julienned snow peas and zucchini from the garden (trying to use up the abundance). All is topped with crispy fried shallots that I get from a Korean store in my area - great store. The classic "sides", added by the diner are lime, jalapenos, Thai basil and bean sprouts. Not bad for a home version. I didn't forget the chili garlic paste or Sriracha.

8-4-10

Grilled Chicken Breast

Marinated breast of chicken grilled with zucchini spears, asparagus and Russet potato.

8-3-10

Cajun Bacon Cheeseburger

An 8 oz. burger dusted with Cajun spice blend, grilled and topped with American cheese, bacon, lettuce and garden tomato. Served on a crusty roll with fries.

8-2-10

Pork Milanese-ish

Pork loin, pounded thin, lightly breaded and sauteed; topped with a fresh salsa made with tomatoes, peppers and herbs from the garden. Served with a vegetable rice (trying to find ways to use an abundance of zucchini), steamed broccoli and lime.

8-1-10

Grill Roasted Half Chicken

Split a whole chicken and applied a dry rub, cooked it on the grill via indirect heat method; burner under the chicken is off while others are on. Served it with blanched garden green beans tossed with roasted garlic slices, salt, pepper wrapped in foil with a bit of white wine and heated on the grill.