Chicken and the Corn!

Some of you know, and some of you don't, that my husband owns a chunk of farm ground, and we have a farmer that cash rents it every year. He's nice enough that when he plants his own corn, he does us a favor and plants two rows of sweet corn, just for us. Well, its CORN time! The property happens to butt up to my sister in law's house and she's been checking it for us every couple of days, and it is officially ready. I know it sounds corny (pun completely intended), but we look forward to this every year.

I know, some of you are saying, "come on, its just CORN". And you're right, I used to say the same thing. But there is just nothing better than fresh from the stalk sweet corn, pulled from the field, shucked, and dropped straight into a pot of boiling water. A little butter, and we could make an entire meal out of nothing but corn. The season is so short, we may have this for a week, and then it will be over. We used to put the corn up, but that tradition died several years ago.

So, the husband stopped by and picked a couple dozen ears last night and I defrosted some chicken breast to make chicken strips to go with it. In case you haven't noticed, I'm the kind of person who likes to cook with what she has on hand, and to make use of items that might otherwise go to waste. Well, a few weeks ago, I had a full bag of pretzel twists that had been around long enough, they went stale. Instead of wasting them, I poured them into my food processor and turned them into "pretzel crumbs" to use for breading, just like I do when I have partial sleeves of crackers left over from a "chili" night.

This dish turned out well enough that the husband may not want to have chicken strips any other way from now on. He couldn't stop raving about them. The pretzel coating made them just a little crunchy, and the addition of some seasonings made it extra special. Add a few ears of corn and you have one amazing summertime supper!

Pretzel Crusted Chicken Strips

3 chicken breasts, sliced into strips

2-3 cups pretzel crumbs

1 cup flour

1 TB ground mustard

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 eggs

1/4 cup milk

On a plastic cutting board, clean and slice your chicken. Blot away any extra moisture on the chicken with paper towels.

Using 2 pie plates (not three, I also like to save on dishes to wash, so follow along!), set up your breading station. In one, put the 1 cup of flour, in the other, crack 3 eggs, and whisk in the milk to make your egg wash.

A few at a time, roll the chicken strips in flour, then return them to the cutting board. Once they all have a light coating of flour, dump the pretzel crumbs in with the remaining flour and mix together. Add in the mustard, paprika, and pepper.One at a time, dunk each strip in the egg wash, then in the pretzels, pressing down on them to hold the crumbs to the chicken.Once all the strips are breaded, begin frying them in batches in 400 degree oil. Fry the strips until golden and serve with your favorite dippers (we used barbecue sauce).

Enjoy! We thought these turned out great. Unfortunately, the hubs liked them so much that he took all the leftovers to work for breakfast AND lunch today. none for me....

TFF - Salt Crusted Porterhouse and Smashed Potatoes with Peas

If you remember reading this post, last week, you'll understand when I decided that my hubby needed a "pick-me-up" kind of dinner to lift his spirits after a particularly rough day. I've been looknig for an excuse to make this Tyler Florence recipe for awhile now, and being the meat and potatoes kind of guy that he is, I thought this one would be right up his alley! (as a side note, I am not much of a "cast iron" cook, but after visiting my SIL and BIL this week, that is gonna change! I learned to love Roger's favorite cast iron pan, so you'll likely be seeing more of this!)

On the way home from work one day last week, I picked up a lovely Porterhouse steak and prepared to pamper the man of the house. Talk about a low-maintenance meal! The only change I made was to garnish the potatoes with peas instead of mashing them into it, because I knew the hubs would avoid the lovely little greenies like the plague, so I played nice. I intended to make a fancy cocktail to go with this, but keeping the man of the hour in mind, I poured him a nice cold beer instead.

I admit I was a little leery of this dish, wondering how the salt crust would affect the flavor of the dish, but I needn't have concerned myself! The way Matt described it was "a cross between a juicy steak and corned beef". The first bite you take, the salt hits you first, but immediately mellows and you get the robust taste of the steak, sealed in the juices by the salt crust.

This recipe got an A+ from my husband, and we'll definitely be trying it again! Be sure to check out the roundup over at Tyler Florence Fridays tomorrow afternoon - this is my entry for the week!

SALT-CRUSTED PORTERHOUSE
Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence, Stirring the Pot
Yield: 2-4 servings
Time: 35 minutes

3 cups kosher salt
6 egg whites
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
¼ bunch flat-leaf parsley
4 sprigs thyme, leaves only
3 stems fresh sage
extra-virgin olive oil
2 (18oz) Porterhouse steaks (1 ½ inches thick)

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.

Bring steaks out so they can come up to room temp, drizzle with a little olive oil and a few turns of black pepper.
Put egg whites in a large mixing bowl and gently whisk until slightly foamy. Using a mortar and pestle (or food processor), mince garlic, bay leaves, rosemary and sage. Add to egg whites with salt and combine well until it holds together like a paste.

Take a large cast-iron skillet (or two smaller ones) and set strip steak in the center of the skillet and mould salt paste on top of and around the sides of the steak.Bake in the hot oven for 15 minutes (internal temp should reach 120 degrees F.) then pull out and rest for 7-8 minutes.Crack shell open – remove steak, slice and serve.Smashed Potatoes and Peas
Recipe Courtesy of Tyler Florence

8 medium new baby red potatoes
1 cup frozen peas, blnached
4 sprigs fresh mint
1/2 cup heavy cream
extra-virgin olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Prepare potatoes. Put potatoes in a large pot of cold salted water. Bring to a boil and simmer until the potatoes are fork-tender, about 20-30 minutes. Drain and put back into the pot. Add cream and using a wooden spoon, smash the potatoes to break them up a little and incorporate the cream. Fold in peas and mint then season with salt and pepper.

Roasted Beet Hummus

The middle of last week, when I was getting close to leaving for Baltimore, my sister sent me a list of all the items she had in abundance thanks to her fruitful garden, and her CSA share that had just arrived. There were a number of things on the list, mostly green things (kale, spinach, green beans, broccoli, cilantro, collard greens) and one red thing, beets. My challenge, should I choose to accept it, was to use up as many of the offerings as possible during my visit. At the end of the day, I didn't do too badly, although she should have received her latest CSA share yesterday after I left, and her garden continues to produce, so I'm sure today she's right back where she started from.

Being a food blog, I am shocked and ashamed to admit that of all the food I made (and that's a considerable amount), I only remembered to take pictures of this one item. I have never cooked beets before, in any fashion, but before I left for my trip, I printed off a quantity of recipes to help me on my quest to empty her fridge. one of those recipes, was this one.

My sister loves hummus, so I figured she'd like this. I found the recipe on Tastespotting, my go-to site for fun new recipes to try. It turned out a lovely shade of fuchsia, and had a nice, sweet taste to it, very hard to describe, but we liked it! We stood around the dish the last day I was there, dipping into it with torn pieces of pita. If you like hummus, I'm betting this one's for you. Plus, you get to use beets, and actually LIKE them!

Roasted Beet Hummus

1-2 medium beets

1 can of chickpeas

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 small yellow or white onion, chopped finely

3 cloves chopped garlic

1/2 cup tahini
1 Tablespoon cumin

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. On a large roasting pan covered with foil, roast the beets for 40-70 minutes, or until smooth when poked with a fork. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then peel and cut into small chunks.In a small frying pan, heat the tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onions and garlic and saute until soft, about 4 minutes.Whisk together the lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl.In a food processor, chop the beets, onions, garlic, and chickpeas together until smooth. Add the tahini and cumin, and process again. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, then replace the lid. While the blades are running, slowly add the lemon juice and olive oil mixture until the hummus is at your desired consistency.Makes 2-3 cups hummus
Other items on the menu this week, that I failed to photograph:
Spiced Cilantro Shrimp with cold sesame peanut noodles (to use the cilantro)
Herb Marinated Strip Steaks and Lemon and Garlic Orzo with Shrimp (using broccoli, zucchini and summer squash)
Chocolate Torte with peanut butter frosting (for the birthday boy)
Peanut butter chocolate coated brownie bites
Green Beans with orange shallot reduction
Collard Greens with bacon and brown sugar (Duh, to use the collard greens)
White pizza with Kale, Italian Sausage and Four Cheeses (for the Kale, obviously - this was FANTASTIC, IMHO)
Herb Grilled Chicken Breasts (a la Roger) with corn on the cob and salad
Campanelle with green bears, feta and dill (beans, dill from the garden)

...and probably an item or two I am forgetting, but you get the idea!

365 Days

Its funny how things can come full circle. Today is my one year blogaversary, and the irony has not escaped me.
See, the whole reason I started my blog is because of my sister. She had been suggesting to me (ever so subtly) for some time that I should start a blog. I even did a little posting on LiveJournal (at her urging) a few years ago, but my posts were few and far between. Gradually, I began to see the light and realized that blogging would be a great way to share stories and pictures, and just in general every day happenings about my son with all of our friends and family.
And so it began.
Now here we are, a year and over 200 posts later, and still going strong. Are you wondering where the irony is that I was referring to? Well, today I am on my way back home from Baltimore. Ty and I have been here visiting my sister, and her new baby girl!
So, now, I can (hopefully) spend more time reading my SISTER’S blog, filled with stories and pictures, and just in general every day happenings about my beautiful new niece. And I’m looking forward to every one of them.
Happy Blogaversary to me!!!

Greetings!

Greetings from Baltimore! Yep, we've got some quiet time this afternoon so I'm catching up on my bloggy subscriptions and thought I'd drop you all a note to let you know that the trip is going fantastically. Linnea is about s precious as she can be, Ty is getting lots of quality time with his grandma and grandpa, and I am getting to cook meals for my sister.

This is a food blog, right? So why is it that I haven't taken a single picture of food since I've been here? Good question. We had a really nice dinner of spicy cilantro shrimp and cold sesame peanut noodles the other night, and the chocolate torte I made for my BIL's birthday yesterday, but not a single shot was saved....and no leftovers either! Last night is was apple and almond stuffed pork chops and a green bean with feta and dill pasta salad. Tonight ts going to be a white pizza with kale and Italian sausage....maybe I'll remember to get my camera out this time.

In any case, Ill be back to my usual bloggerriffic self on Thursday! I already have a couple of posts in store for you, and a lot of pictures to download. See you then!

Something fishy this way comes….

This post is a little belated, as I was completely focused on the fact that my sister gave birth to my beautiful niece, Linnea, Sunday night.

Meanwhile, while we were waiting for the little one to make her entrance to the world…and waiting….and waiting….we went fishing!

We took Ty fishing once last summer, but he wasn’t in the boat for long, and the fish weren’t biting. This time, the hubs’ good friend (also a Matt) invited us over to fish at the pond at the new house he’s building. That man adores my Little Man. He also recently let him shoot his gun off his back deck and was just beaming with pride when Ty didn’t even flinch. So, you could say we were all pretty proud when Ty reeled in one after another Sunday night! Here are a few shots of the action. Daddy and Ty waiting for the "Big One".Ty's first fish ever! A little bass. Fish number two was a pretty little catfish.
Third time is a charm, and Ty reeled in a nice bluegill.

We started off throwing all the fish back, but after seeing how well we were doing, Uncle Matt got a bucket out and we started keeping them. The next night, we all got together at our house for a little fish fry. It was so nice and fresh, even I had some! And you all know I don't like fish!So, all in all, a very good night. Ty fell asleep on the way home, and mama got a little sun. Ahhh... good times.

Travel Omens? Let's Hope Not....

So, this morning kinda SUCKED a little. To stat with, I had an extra body at my house last night, and that added to the usual morning routine, getting an extra person out of bed, etc.

However, Matt left for work on time, and I proceeded to get showered and prepare for the day. When, at about 5:30, the husband called and sent me scrambling for the phone so as not to wake the two sleeping boys. I answer the phone to this:

"So, I just tore up the Buick."

What? Wait, huh? Yeah, on his way to work, the hubs got blindsided by a deer, about 150 yards from the spot where he hit a deer with the same car about two years ago (with only minor damage).

When I tell people that I deer hunt, they don't quite get it. A girl? Deer hunting? Well, if there was ever a good reason for hunting, this is one.

Despite the hole in the radiator (and the engine that we replaced only 2 years ago), he managed to limp it home to retrieve his truck and get back to work, calling in to the police dispatch to report it on the way. I went out to meet him and take a few pictures of it, and then turned back to the house and stopped dead in my tracks with a resounding, "SHIT!!!"

I wonder how many tires I am going to lose before we find all the screws and nails left in our yard from the siding project.....

Yep, that's MY car. Fortunately it is not one of the new tires I just had put on the front two weeks ago.

It would be a really good day to play hookey and drink all day.....is it beer o'clock yet?

(By the way, the insurance company will most likely total the car. Ironic that we just gave his old work car to our niece for her 16th birthday last month....)