Years ago my friends dad had gone on a month long fishing trip and invited some of us over to feast on his treasure. He had caught a bunch of yellow fin tuna and the last time I had indulged myself on that was when I had stayed in Hawaii. I will never forget the Parmesan Yellow fin Tuna Steaks he made. Even though I never got the recipe from him I tried the other night to replicate my own. It didn't taste anything like his but I can sure say that mine were good. He cooked his well done, as for mine, well I love it pink in the middle, brought out way more flavor I think.

Parmesan Yellow Fin Tuna Steaks

2 Yellow Fin Tuna Steaks
1 1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese, shredded
Sea Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil

1. Rinse the Tuna Steaks and pat dry with a paper towel.
2. Season front and back of fish with Sea Salt & pepper.
3. Shred the parmesan cheese and lay out on a plate.
4. Lay the Tuna steak in the shredded parmesan cheese on both sides. You can lightly press the cheese onto the fish and it will stick to it, make sure that it covers with a good layer.
5. Take some olive oil and only put enough in to surface the pan and heat up the pan to medium-high.
6. Place steak on pan and sear for 4-5 minutes per side, or until cheese forms a golden brown crust on each side.

Note: The steak is going to be rare in the middle; you are only searing the outside of the tuna. If you don't like it rare, then go ahead and throw it in the oven for a few minutes. Also when cooking with sea food I usually find that it's a good idea and better to use sea salt instead of regular salt; however you don't have to do this.

So what happened? Well we got poor for awhile there. If you read our main site you know all about our adventures finding a job for Jenn. So with that weighing on us, we just really couldn't afford much. But things are better now. Jenn is 2 weeks into a job she can turn into a career and I am having a little less of the stress related ailments that I suffer from.

Now that we are on our way to being back on our feet we have taken the last few budget reduced months as a lesson. Now when we shop for food we will be looking for as many deals as possible and crafting meals around what we are able to score. Also we are both becoming coupon hounds. Even though we have money coming in, we both remember all to well what it was like to be without.

So last night we made up some chicken. The recipe called for grilling the bird and the common thought when we heard that was that we would just end up pan frying it. For reasons I can't explain I decided that I really wanted to grill the dinner. Last night was really windy and all I had was charcoal, but I couldn't be stopped. Here is the recipe that Jenn found:

Grilled Chicken Breast with Ginger and Soy

2 cups soy sauce
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup dark sesame oil
1 lime, juiced
4 inches fresh ginger, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin

1. Combine the 1 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons sesame oil, half of the lime juice, ginger, and garlic, and 1/4 cup cilantro in the bottom of each of 2 large freezer bags. Put 2 chicken breasts in each bag and get them coated with the marinade. Then set the bags on a work surface, force the air out and seal them. Allow chicken to marinade for 1 hour. You can also freeze the chicken right in the marinade at this point. To do so fold each bag over the chicken 3 times, tape them well, and date them. Put it in the freezer for up to 2 months.
2. Place a large grill pan on 2 burners over medium-high heat, or preheat an outdoor gas or charcoal grill. Fold a few paper towels into a thick square. Blot some oil on the paper towels and then carefully and quickly wipe the ridges of the gill pan or the hot grates of the grill to make a non-stick surface.
3. Remove the chicken breasts from the marinade and season with salt and pepper. Lay the chicken on the hot grill and cook 3 to 5 minutes on each side until charred and firm. Serve with the sesame noodles and cucumber pickles.

Good stuff here. Boy am I glad that I fired up the grill because I don't think it would have been half as good if we hadn't. We also had a bunch of this leftover. We decided to freeze it and we will use it whenever we don't feel like going though the motions of making dinner for the night.

First was the side dish I made. I have never had it before and have always been curious. I am okay in the kitchen and have had more successes than failure recently, so I thought would try making risotto. Risotto can be considered a main dish in most cases, but I wanted it on the side so I would have a main dish in case this crashed and burned like it so easily could have. So for an Italian meal like Risotto I decided to try a Mario Batalli recipe. Here was the easiest one I found.

Risotto Milanese

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 teaspoon saffron threads
3 1/2 cups chicken stock, hot
2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for sprinkling

1. In a 12 to 14-inch skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened and translucent but not browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile add the saffron to the stock, stirring to infuse. Once the onions are translucent add the rice and stir with a wooden spoon until toasted and opaque, 3 to 4 minutes.
2. Add the wine to the toasting rice, and then add a 4 to 6-ounce ladle of the saffron-infused stock and cook, stirring, until it is absorbed. Continue adding the stock a ladle at a time, waiting until the liquid is absorbed before adding more. Cook until the rice is tender and creamy and yet still a little al dente, about 15 minutes. Stir in the butter and cheese until well mixed. Portion risotto into 4 warmed serving plates, serving with extra cheese.

Cool thing about this dish was that all I needed to buy was chicken stock. I had already bought the arborio rice at Trader Joe's some time back with grand ideas in my head. Luckily the package was vacuum sealed because it took some time to get around to that original plan.

If you have never made risotto before I have to warn you that it is a pretty intense meal to make. Not that it was overly tricky in the making, there is just a lot of standing and stirring involved. So make sure and wear some sensible shoes before attempting this one.

At first taste, I wasn't overly impressed. It just tasted like mushy rice with some flavor. Some reason I couldn't stop eating it though. By the end of my portion I actually enjoyed it. This is probably going to out me as someone that know very little about food, but I kept thinking that it tasted like a grown up version of mac and cheese. There was no nuclear orange flavoring involved and the consistency of the rice was like a macaroni noodle when cooked right.

With a little effort and more testing, I think I can grow to really like risotto. All in all I think I did pretty well for a first try (I didn't burn anything and it was edible). That was the least of what I was hoping for.

Next post: Fish! Not something I am used to cooking.

Not really, but that statement doesn't quite reflect the amount of shock I am in today after her actions last night. What horrible thing could she have done to make me question her motives you ask?

She served me a sandwich with mustard on it!

I'm sure the look of horror on my face was worth a good laugh once I realized what was in my mouth. She made both of us a couple of panini's last night and decided that she wanted mustard and tomatoes on hers, which I asked to be omitted from my sandwich. Once served, I joked that she had given me the wrong sandwich and proceeded to bite into it. Jenn noticed that her sandwich was missing tomatoes and pointed this out. I made it to the bathroom in 2 seconds flat.

All in all, I didn't even taste the mustard. I was only on the first bite and it wasn't the really nasty yellow mustard (which in my eyes is equal to eating sulfuric acid). I lived through the harrowing tale but now have to cast a suspicious eye on anything my wife puts in front of me. Maybe I can hire one of those tasters that kings used to have in their courts to detect any poisons.

On more realistic news, there has been a real dry spell at foodb lately. Jenn has been out of work for some time and we had to really tighten our budget in the last few months. Unfortunately this means we have to really rely on a lot of recipes that we know are relatively cheap and that we have already covered on this here web site. So don't think I have abandoned this site entirely, I'm just waiting until we get back on our feet in some form.

Speaking of which, this entry covers (as you might have guessed) matzah ball soup. Jenn and I watched a special on the customs of Passover feasts from around New York, and it got me interested more in kosher food and various Jewish meals. One of the main meals that I know of from Jewish culture is matzah ball soup.

So, once again I came across a recipe in our big soup book and asked Jenn if she could make it sometime. Here is what the recipe looked like:

Matzah Ball Soup

4 large Eggs
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
7 Tbsn. of Water
1 cup matzo meal
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Black Pepper
2 Quarts Chicken Stock
3 small Carrots, peeled and cut into round 1/8 inch thick
2 Tbsn. finely chopped fresh dill or parsley

1. Lightly beat the eggs with a whisk in a medium bowl. Whisk in the fat, then the water. In a separate bowl, mix together the matzo meal, salt and pepper. Stir the matzo mixture into the liquids. The consistency will initially be like pancake batter, but it will immediately begin to thicken. After 2 to 3 minutes the batter will be like soft mashed potatoes or soft polenta. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours.
2. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large stockpot of Dutch oven over medium high heat. With moistened hands, form 1 level tablespoon of matzo mixture into balls about 1 inch diameter. Drop the balls into the boiling water so that each falls into the pot in a different place. When all of the balls are added, reduce to a simmer over medium low heat and cook covered for 20 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove one matzo ball, cut in half and check for doneness and seasoning. The matzo ball is done when the inside is not dark or wet. If more seasoning is desired add 2 teaspoons salt to the water. If necessary cook 5 to 10 additional minutes, or until the color is uniform throughout and the texture is light and fluffy.
3. While the matzo balls are cooking bring the stock to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the carrots, reduce the heat to medium low and cook until tender, about 6 minutes. Use slotted spoons to transfer the matzo balls to the soup. Stir in the dill or parsley and serve immediately.

Man was I impressed. I helped Jenn a little in the making of the soup and I thought it was going to be horrible. It was basically dough balls that consist of flour, eggs, water and some spices for the matzah itself. Just sounded bland. Then the broth was just chicken broth and carrots. Again, nothing earth shattering there. I was happily surprised that the matzah balls themselves have a lot of flavor and made for a really good soup. It was still good the next day as leftovers.

This week we are making it again (this recipe should have been posted about a month ago). This time Jenn says she wants to add some celery to the broth. Either way, I think this one is going to be a staple for us.

A few weeks back, Jennifer's mom was having another open house. She offered to buy the food if I was willing to cook it. Always one to step up to a challenge like that, I accepted. I had my heart set on smoking a big ole chunk of pig.

Just a quick info session on the process of smoking. Smoking is cooking (in a BBQ looking device) at less than 250 degrees for long periods of time. Generally you only smoke larger pieces of meat this way because: a) smaller pieces will finish too quickly, therefore negating the reason for smoking; adding flavor b) larger pieces have more fat and can withstand the long cook time better, and c) it's just more fun to say that you stayed up all night cooking. So the main recipients of the smoking method are beef brisket, beef or pork ribs, and pork shoulder.

All that being said, I had yet to try smoking a pork shoulder. So we all went to the market and I settled on a picnic roast (mainly because they did not have the more sought after pork butt which I wanted). So here is the recipe as far as I can remember:

Pulled Pork (picnic roast)

1 Pork Picnic Roast (approximately 7-10 lbs.)
Generous amount of spice rub (I used a BBQ rub we get from Plowboys)
4-6 Baseball sized wood chunks (I used apple)
Hamburger buns or large kaiser rolls
BBQ sauce
Cole slaw

Basting Sauce
2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
3 Tablespoons ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons table salt
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 Tablespoon paprika
1 Tablespoon pepper

1. Fire up you smoker according to your directions. The temperature of your smoker should be between 200 and 250 degrees.
2. Remove any skin and excess fat from the roast. Apply a generous amount of spice rub to cover (it should look like the spices are caked on. Don't worry about over spicing because it cooks into the meat and that is good eating).
3. Place roast on smoker. Cook for about 1 1/2 hours per pound. Your desired temperature is 188 degrees so your cooking time may vary.
4. About halfway through you cook, mix the basting sauce in a pot. Warm over a low flame and mix together. Flip the roast on the smoker and baste with the sauce.
5. Once roast hits 188 degrees, remove the roast and let it rest, covered in foil, for 30 minutes to 2 hours. Once the rest is up, pull the pork into small bite size pieces with your hands. Mix some of the basting sauce into the pulled pieces of pork. Serve with buns, BBQ sauce, and cole slaw.

Can't believe I waited this long to cook this guy. Really good stuff here. Next time I will try a full pork butt instead of the picnic. Supposedly the picnic has more of a ham-like flavor. I didn't notice any of that but I would like to try at least once.

This was definitely an adventure. I started cooking the roast around 10 p.m. the night before. I have a remote thermometer that I can program to wake me up if the temp gets too high/low and will warn me when the meat hits a certain temp. That little remote is one of the best investments I ever made. We also had to speed up the cook at the end because I hit a temperature plateau. Butts and picnics sometimes hit a temperature and stay there for a long time. I had a hungry houseful of people, so I had to speed the process up a bit by increasing the temp of the smoker.

Just a word of warning also. I drink beer when I BBQ. When I am grilling that means I will have about 2 beers when cooking because most grilling takes only up to 30 minutes. With smoking the time moves up to 10+ hours. Don't be a Gordon and start drinking early. It only leads to bad things.

Last week we our usual recipe for Cornish Game Hens. We both really like it and haven't felt the need to expand on it really. When you buy game hens though, you typically get a pack with two of them in it and usually we just throw the extra one in the freezer for a future retread of the same recipe. This week we decided to go ahead and find another recipe that involved our favorite little bird. So after much searching, it Emeril to the rescue:

Bulgur, Herb, and Feta Stuffed Cornish Hens

1 1/2 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup medium-grain bulgur
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill, plus generous sprigs for garnish
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus generous sprigs for garnish
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint, plus generous sprigs for garnish
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more as needed
4 scallions (white and green), chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup crumbled Greek feta (about 3 ounces)
4 Cornish game hens, backbone and breast bone removed (butterflied)
Charred Tomato Coulis, recipe follows

1. Bring the stock to a boil in a small saucepan. Meanwhile, toast the bulgur in a medium skillet over medium heat until fragrant and nutty, about 4 minutes. Stir in the bulgur, lower the heat, and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside for 5 minutes.
2. Transfer the bulgur to a medium bowl and fluff with a fork. Add 1/4 cup of the olive oil, chopped herbs, pine nuts, 2 teaspoons salt, scallions, and garlic and season with pepper, to taste. Cool slightly and add the egg and feta, and mix to combine. Set the stuffing aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
4. Lay the hens on a work surface. Starting from the neck of a hen, slip a couple fingers between the skin and breast, and loosen the skin. Take a large spoonful of the stuffing and slip the spoon between the skin and breast. With your free hand, hold the stuffing in place and gently pull the spoon out, leaving the stuffing behind. Press the skin down to evenly distribute the stuffing over the breast. Repeat until the hens are evenly stuffed. Cross the legs of the birds at the breastbone and tie them with a piece of kitchen twine.
5. Arrange the hens breast-side up on a baking sheet. Brush all over with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper.
6. Roast the birds until well browned and crispy, and an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees when inserted into the thigh, about 40 minutes.
7. To serve, split the hens in half lengthwise. Pour the coulis onto a platter and arrange the hens on top. Garnish with the herb sprigs and serve.

Charred Tomato Coulis
4 medium ripe tomatoes
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Put the tomatoes over 2 gas burners on high and cook, turning occasionally, until charred and peeling. Alternatively, broil the tomatoes until charred. Put the tomatoes in a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Set aside to steam for 5 minutes. Peel and seed the tomatoes.
2. Transfer the tomatoes to a blender with the vinegar and garlic and puree until smooth. While the motor is running, drizzle in the oil until incorporated. Season with pepper, to taste.

Pretty intense recipe. The bird and the stuffing were both good stuff. As for the tomato coulis, there was a little accident and I ended up cleaning more of it off of the counter than ended up on our plates. I'm not really a sauce person myself so I let Jenn have the bulk of what could be salvaged. As for the stuffing, I was very surprised that the feta or the dill didn't overpower it. I'm not a big fan of either so I was a little worried when I saw that both of them were involved. Since there was only two of us, we decided to split the recipe by 4 (which made for some interesting fractional measurements). Also we avoided the pine nuts due to possible allergic reactions as always. The recipe may seem intimidating just looking at the amount of ingredients and steps, but I think Jenn had a pretty easy time of it. All and all, another keeper.

So oddly enough when we were making the menu for last week, we got to our usual question of what soup should we make for the week. My mother gave us a really good soup book which I have been using for that same question for the past month and I came across ratatouille in it. After seeing it made in the movie we were both curious and already had an eggplant in the fridge, so why not.

Ratatouille

2 medium eggplants (2 – 2 1/2 lbs. total) cut into 1 inch dice
Salt
2 large zucchini (1 1/2 lbs. total) cut into 1 inch dice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion cut into 1 inch pieces
2 medium cloves of garlic minced
3 medium ripe tomatoes, cored, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
1 Tablespoon minced fresh Thyme leaves
Ground Black pepper

1. Place the eggplant in a large colander set over a bowl. Sprinkle the eggplant with 2 teaspoons salt and toss to distribute the salt evenly. Let the eggplant stand for at least 1 hour and preferably 2 to 3 hours. Rinse the eggplant well to remove the salt and place on a triple thickness of paper towels. Cover with another triple layer of towels. Using your palms, press the eggplant firmly until it feels very firm when pressed between fingertips. Set aside.
2. Adjust the oven racks to the upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 500 degrees. Toss the eggplant and zucchini with 2 tablespoons oil in a large bowl. Divide the mixed vegetables between 2 parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets and season liberally with salt to taste. Place the baking sheets in the oven and roast the vegetables stirring every 10 minutes, until the eggplant and zucchini are well-browned and very tender, 30 – 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add the onion, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring often until the onion is golden and very soft, 15 to 20 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until just fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and cook until their juices are released and tomatoes begin to break down, about 5 minutes.
4. Add the reserved eggplant and zucchini to the pot, stirring gently but thoroughly to coat until the vegetables are reheated. Add the parsley, basil and thyme and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Chefs Notes
For the tomatoes there is a whole process you can go through peeling the tomatoes if you don't have the best knife skills or one shortcut you could do is to buy a can of whole tomatoes that has it already done for you. Notes on the process are as follows:

Peeling Tomatoes

1. Place the cored tomatoes in a saucepan of boiling water, no more than five at a time. Boil until the skin splits and begins to curl around the cored area of the tomato, about 15 seconds for very ripe tomatoes and up to 30 seconds for firmer tomatoes. Remove the tomatoes from the water with a slotted spoon and place them in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.


2. When the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, peel back the skins with a paring knife. Use the curled edges at the core as your point of departure.

For the Salt, I prefer to use Kosher salt when cooking and flat leaf (Italian Parsley) when recipes call for it. It gives a more fresh flavor to things.

If you don't feel like taking the time out to cut up fresh herbs you can always use dry herbs but just greatly reduce the measurements it asks for because the dry is reduced in size quite a bit.

I only used one tray for roasting the veggies because I had a big enough pan, as long as everything consists of one layer, a couple here and there is no big deal. Also I didn’t use a dutch oven, I just used a plane old skillet but reduced the heat because the heat goes through that metal a lot quicker.

End Chefs Notes

Pretty impressive stuff here. I have no idea why it was in our soup and stew book because there wasn't anything that resembled a broth involved. It was also nice to have a dinner that did not involve a meat as the star of the dish. I've noticed that most of our meals revolve around some kind of meat and the few times we have tried to veer away from this, the results have been mixed. But this is a welcome addition to our collection and a healthy choice as well.

The second dish we made was the stuffed zucchini recipe below. I saw it come across my RSS reader and when I saw the picture of the finished product, I really wanted to try it. Was a little difficult convincing Jenn that this wouldn't be another one of my disaster project recipes. I find that for every three recipes I try to take on, Usually one of them is good. I know, enough talk, get to the food!

Stuffed Zucchini with Turkey Sausage

1 zucchini about 12 inches long, or 6 medium ones
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1 pound ground turkey
2 diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper

1. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise. Scoop out insides, leaving shells about 1/4 inch thick. Reserve about half of the insides.
2. Heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a skillet on medium high heat. Sauté onion and garlic until soft. Add mushrooms and reserved zucchini insides, and sauté another 2 minutes.
3. In a separate skillet heat a Tbsp of olive oil on medium high heat. Add the ground turkey. Lightly brown the turkey, stirring only occasionally. After the turkey browns on one side, stir it so that it has a chance to brown on other sides. Cook until the ground turkey is lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Stir in the onion and mushroom mixture from the other pan. Add the wine. Stir in tomato, basil and rosemary and cook 1 minute longer. Drain any excess fat. Remove mixture from heat and set it aside.
4. When mixture has cooled, add cheese, egg, salt and pepper. Fill zucchini shells with mixture. Fill a baking pan with 1/4 inch of water. Place filled zucchini halves in pan and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes, until golden brown. Remove zucchini from pan and serve while hot.

Good stuff! I thought that hollowing out the zucchinis was going to be a nightmare. Boy was I surprised when I had finished the job in 10 minutes. We omitted the mushrooms from this dish because the 'shrooms just ain't my thing. We had plenty of leftovers on this one also.

One thing we discussed afterwards was the choice of meats. Ground turkey is alright, it just tends to dry out very easily. Jenn and I both agree that this recipe would have gone better with either ground chicken or chicken sausage. I think it might be good with ground pork as well but Jenn usually knows better when it comes to stuff like substituting. This one is definitely a keeper and I have yet to find a recipe with zucchini that I don't like.

About a month ago, Jen's mom put her house up for sale. She is planning on moving up to Oregon and hopefully someday soon, we shall follow. We both really miss a lot about Oregon (the food selection is top notch up there) and want to really make that area our future home.

With the sale of the house comes open houses. For the first open house, we invited the family and dogs over so the realtor could do his business and we decided to cook up some ribs. The ribs were smoked and I have to say that it has been awhile since I have had ribs that good. One of the other things that we threw on the grill were some shrimp marinated in a sauce that Jenn whipped up. She got the inspiration for the sauce from watching Iron Chef and decided what better time to experiment. Here is the recipe for the sauce:

Mean Green Dressing

1 bundle of flat leaf parsley (Italian Parsley)
1/2 bundle of cilantro
1 bundle of small scallion tops (you can find these in the herb section of your grocery store)
5 sweet basil leaves
1 lemon
1 clove of garlic
Kosher salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Olive Oil, about 1/2 a cup

• Squeeze half the lemon into a blender, the add the bund of parsley, cilantro, scallions and basil, garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Start to blend in the blender slowly adding the olive oil as you go. You may or may not need all the /2 a cup just make sure to eyeball and taste as you go to get the consistency you like. If you need to, add more salt or lemon juice.

Man that was good on the shrimp. The flavors really came out. Grilling the shrimp was pretty easy with this on it because they were pretty much coated with olive oil. There was some leftover sauce the next day and Jenn tried throwing it on a salad. She enjoyed it yet I did not. I am finding that I still like my salad with no dressing so don't take this as a negative review of it. Just not my cup of tea.

This weekend was the complete opposite. The weather was around 80 degrees and perfect for BBQing. Luckily I had invited my parents down from the Victor Valley area to celebrate fathers day, albeit a little late.

Back in July we were planning on inviting my parents down to celebrate and we got news that my Grandfathers health was failing. He ended up passing away that week and we all agreed that we would have to postpone any such plans. Well it was about time that I paid off that rain check and what better way to celebrate at the end of summer than to BBQ.

I ended up cooking the tri-tip recipe that I wrote about a few weeks back with the typical assortment of side dishes that I enjoy (namely potatoes and corn on the cob). Before all that happened though, Jenn decided to make a batch of snickerdoodle cookies so the house would smell good and we would have some form of dessert. Snickerdoodles are my favorite cookie and we found a great recipe in the big yellow baking cookbook that my mother gave us and here is that recipe:

Snickerdoodle Cookies

2 1/4 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of cream of tartar
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter softened but still cool
1/4 cup of vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 3 tablespoons for rolling dough
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon of cinnamon for rolling dough

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper and lower middle positions and heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Whisk the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.
3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, cream the butter, shortening and the 1 1/2 cups of sugar at medium speed until combined, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the eggs. Beat until combined, about 30 seconds.
4. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 20 seconds.
5. Mix the 3 tablespoons of sugar for rolling and the cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Working with a heaping tablespoon of dough each time, roll the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar and place them on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
6. Bake until the edges of the cookies are beginning to set and the centers are soft and puffy, 9-11 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets 2 to 3 minutes before transferring them with a wide metal spatula to a wire rack.

Good stuff!!! I can't recommend that baking book enough. We have made about 6 items from it and each one has been great. Usually I am the one that does the baking for our little family, but this time Jenn stepped up and made me look like a chump in the kitchen. Guess I am going to have to defer to her now any time I go near the stove.

I just did some stats and oddly enough it took me 420 days to hit 100. I didn't plan that at all and for the few of those in the know, that's just weird. So if my division skills are still there, I post every 4.2 days. Considering that for the most part I do not post on weekends, that number comes down to one post for every three days. And once again factoring in vacations/sickness/work/school/doing dishes... I think that is a pretty impressive number.

So with all of this food knowledge I was thinking what amazing facts could I pass on now that this site hit a milestone. Well the first thing that came to mind was my wife is an awesome cook. I think that with the right training and determination that she could go on to cook for big fancy restaurants anywhere. Thankfully though she decided to cook for little ol' me and I am grateful for that every time she brings a hot dish to me at night. Even when I don't enjoy the meal I still have to thank her because she is always trying new things and always working hard to impress me. I love you Jenn and I hope you continue on our journey to become the best chef I know (which you already are btw).

So back to the business at hand. We made this recipe last week. Jenn and I both really like red snapper and she found this recipe from Bobby Flay. I don't know what it is about Bobby that makes me not want to like him but I find that I do tend to enjoy the recipes he shares. Must be the name. I don't know anyone over the age of 8 that can pull off being named Bobby. But enough about him, here's the recipe:

Grilled Red Snapper with Grapefruit-Thyme Mojo

4 skinless red snapper fillets, 8 ounces each
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Grapefruit-Thyme Mojo
1 grapefruit, sliced, for garnish

Grapefruit-Thyme Mojo
1/4 cup olive oil
8 cloves roasted garlic
1 grapefruit, juiced
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 teaspoons grated grapefruit zest
1 teaspoon honey
2 serrano chiles, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

1. Heat your grill to high.
2. Brush the fish with oil and season both sides of the fish with the salt and pepper. Place the fish on the grill, and grill for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown and slightly charred. Turn the fish over and continue grilling, for 3 to 4 minutes for medium doneness. Remove the fish from the grill and let rest 5 minutes.
3. Drizzle mojo over snapper and serve with grapefruit slices on the side.

Chef Note:I did not add the peppers like usual but I did add a little bit of pepper to the dressing. Also, we did not grill the fish so I just brushed olive oil on the fish and salted each side with Sea Salt, then fried it in a pan with some olive oil 3 minutes per side, it came out rater nicely.

Good stuff as always. As the note above says, this recipe was supposed to be grilled. Unfortunately I was out of charcoal and propane that day and Jenn had to improvise. I think it was a good thing though because I have grilled fish many times and have always had a problem with it. Fish is so easy to destroy on a grill and I don't really have steady hands so it tends to look like it went through a blender once I finish the cooking.

So now I have to figure out what to talk about for the next 100 posts. Maybe I will finally post something under the breakfast category... Maybe we will discover that eskimo food is our new love... Maybe we will get a decent range one of these days that was made sometime after 1960. You never know.

I mentioned in the last post that I am not a fan of feta except in rare situations. So with that said I was surprised when Jenn made dinner one night last week and I found out that what we were having was chicken breasts stuffed with feta. Here is the recipe that she used:

Chicken with Herbed Goat Cheese

3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
12 ounces goat cheese, with garlic and herbs
Fresh basil leaves
Good olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Pre-Heat oven 375
2. Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet. Loosen the skin from the meat with your fingers, leaving one side attached.. Cut 12 thick slices of the goat cheese and place 2 slices plus a large basil leaf under the skin of each chicken breast. Rub each piece with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Bake the breasts for 35 to 40 minutes, until just cooked through. Serve hot or at room temperature.

I have to say that this one wasn't really my cup of tea. The chicken was fine and I am sure that if I actually liked feta that I would have enjoyed the whole thing. Jennifer and her mother, who we were entertaining, both really enjoyed it so it's just a personal taste thing.

The side dish that Jenn made with the chicken though was really good. I am pretty much good with most any recipe that involves zucchini.

Zucchini with Parmesan

8 medium zucchini
Good olive oil
2 large yellow onions cut in half and sliced 1/2 inch thick
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

• Remove the ends of the zucchini and, if they are large, cut in half lengthwise. Slice the zucchini diagonally in 1/2-inch slices. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large (12-inch) sauté pan and add the onions. Cook for 10 minutes on medium-low heat, until they start to brown. Add half the zucchini, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to the pan and cook, tossing occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes, until just cooked through. Sprinkle with Parmesan and cook for 30 seconds more. Remove to a serving platter and repeat with the rest of the zucchini. Serve immediately.

Jenn and I both enjoy Mediterranean meals and we really don't cook enough of it. So as part of last weeks menu she decided to go with a Bobby Flay recipe that incorporated a lot of ingredients that we enjoy. Once we realized that the recipe called for lamb loin chops (about $15 a pound with bones in them) we decided to get creative on this one. And below is the recipe that Jenn came up with to save our budget a bit:

Lamb Meatball w/Feta Yogurt, Tomato, and Cucumber Salad

Lamb Meatballs

1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped lemon zest
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary leaves
1 pound of ground lamb
4 pocket less pitas or Lavash
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, zest, garlic and rosemary in a medium shallow baking dish, add lamb and turn to coat. Marinate in refrigerator for 2 hours.

Feta Yogurt Sauce

1 cup yogurt, drained
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Tomato and Cucumber Salad

1 cucumber, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 small red onion, finely sliced
2 tablespoons finely chopped mint
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Mix all ingredients together and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

1. Pre-Heat oven 350
2. Take the lamb mixture and start rolling into meatballs (about an inch or so). Place in a heated pan with olive oil and cook on two sides for 2 to 3 minutes at a time to get a nice brown crust. Place meatballs on a baking sheet and bake in the oven no longer than 10 minutes.
3. Take the pita breads and put yogurt spread on them, some of the tomato and Cucumber salad and about 4 lamb meatballs.

Chefs Notes: This was my take on a Bobby Flay dish that I found, however he asked for lamb tenderloin and to grill it, however we can’t afford lamb tenderloin so we twisted the recipe some. I also used a English Cucumber because it has less seeds and used some of our little grape tomato’s from our garden that I cut in half and only one regular tomato for the bigger pieces and I think it came out rater nicely. I also drizzled a little bit of olive oil on the salad to give it a little flavor.

I really liked this one. When Jenn made my pita, she got a little happy with the feta sauce. I didn't mind the sauce itself I just didn't want a lot. Even with that minor, minor problem I liked it a lot. The next day I had enough to make 2 pitas at work and I have to say that they were the perfect hand food for eating in your car. Easy to reheat, easy to assemble and no mess. Good stuff all around.

About a year ago I was really wanting to get a charcoal BBQ. At that point I had a propane grill that I got some time ago as a Christmas present and I had my smoker which I bought myself as a tax return present. So naturally I wanted the final major form of BBQ cooking to complete my collection. I found one on craigslist for $10 and it has been sitting in my yard pretty much unused ever since then. Propane is so much easier to just fire up and throw the meat on.

Then I ran out of propane.

So when I really wanted to make the below recipe, I had to fire up the charcoal grill. At first I was kind of upset that I had o take the time out to light the coals, get them set up and then watch the meat to make sure it didn't burn. Somewhere in the middle of all of that I realized that a strange calm came over me and I was actually enjoying the simplicity of it all. So I think from now on I will be doing all of our BBQing on the charcoal grill because I'm not really that busy of a person and I really had a blast.

Grilled Tri-Tip Steak with Bell Pepper Salsa

Marinade
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp sherry vinegar or apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
A couple of turns of freshly ground black pepper
A sprinkling of salt

Steak
1 2-pound tri-tip steak or roast
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Salsa
1 large green bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, finely chopped (if you don't have green, probably any color will do)
6 green onions, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp chopped parsley, basil, or arugula
1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes
2 Tbsp sherry vinegar or apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Prepare the marinade in a large bowl, stirring together all of the marinade ingredients. Place steak in the bowl and coat on all sides with the marinade. Let the steak sit in the marinade and come to room temperature while you prepare the grill. (No need to marinate the steak more than 20 minutes or so.)
2. Prepare the grill for direct high heat. If you are using charcoal, use approximately 5 pounds of coals. Bank the coals so that more of them are on one side than the other, so that you have a high heat zone and a lower heat zone.
3. When the grill is ready and hot, remove the meat from the marinade and dry it all around with paper towels. Sprinkle all sides of the tri-tip generously with both salt and freshly ground black pepper.
4. Place the tri-tip on the grill, on the hot direct heat side. Leave the cover off and watch carefully for flare-ups. As the meat browns, any fat will melt and drip on to the coals causing flare-ups. These are okay, as long as they don't get out of control. Keep moving the tri-tip around the grill away from the flames if they get too high. After one side of the meat is browned (about 5 minutes) use tongs to flip it on to the other side. When it is browned all around, move the tri-tip to the lower heat side of the grill. Cover the grill and close the vents enough so that you maintain about 300-325°F temperature in the grill. (If you are using a charcoal grill, you can place a meat thermometer through the vents to measure the heat.) If you are using a gas grill, turn off one of the burners and move the meat over that burner for indirect heating.
5. Cook the tri-tip until a meat thermometer reads 130°F when inserted into the thickest part of the meat (15-30 minutes, depending on the thickness of the meat). Remove the tri-tip from the grill. Cover with aluminum foil and let rest for 10 minutes.
6. Prepare the salsa by combining all of the salsa ingredients into a small bowl.
7. Cut the tri-tip in 1/4-inch slices against the grain. Serve with the salsa.

Wow. This was a great meal. Jenn made some potatoes with garlic in a foil pack that I threw on the grill also. The potatoes were perfect. I overcooked the meat a little (ended up being about medium-well) but it was still pretty tender. The star of the show though was the salsa that we put on top of the steak. We used an orange pepper instead of green because we both find that the flavor of the orange ones is the best. After the meal was done I commented that the salsa (which didn't really taste like the salsa that we are used to from Mexican restaurants) could have been used in more ways. We could have thrown it in with the potatoes and it would have tasted great. We could have ate it by itself and it would have made a good side dish. All in all I think we found a keeper and this one will definitely be the recipe of choice when I get tri-tip in the future.

Also to give credit, I found this recipe on Simply Recipes. I subscribed to their RSS feed some time ago and their stuff always looks really good.