August 11, 2011- Marinated Chicken & Home Grown Green Beans

Yes, it's been a very long time since I blogged.  And, no, I am not going to get caught up.  But, tonight's dinner was such a hit that I had to write about it.  I've just been too busy to keep up with a daily blog.

In May, my parents came to town and helped build two raised garden beds in our backyard.  They gave them to me for Christmas.  I have had some successes and some failures in what I chose to plant.  The spinach was a big failure.  The plants came up quickly, and then bolted just as quickly.  The plants never got big enough to harvest from.  One tomato plant just didn't make the transplant.  My broccoli was attacked by worms and then aphids.  We'll see if they ever produce anything to eat.  The lettuce came up quickly, and then just sat there, unproductive.  I'm not sure it will ever grow enough to harvest.  

Our success has come from the herbs, green beans, green onions, carrots, and, to some extent, strawberries.  I've had to cut the cilantro back over and over again.  Right now I am letting it go to see to see what coriander looks like:)  Our carrots continue to grow.  I'm not a big carrot eater, but Katie and Ben like them.  I figure we can donate what we don't eat to the food bank.  The green onions are healthy and growing.  Our strawberry plants have been producing sweet fruit, just not a ton.  

Tonight we harvested five strawberries and enough green beans to feed our family. I planted two kinds of green beans--pole and bush.  Katie and I picked a few of each variety tonight.  After tasting both, I have decided that the pole beans are too stringy for my liking.  Next year, I'm sticking with the deliciously sweet bush beans.  Here's cute Katie with our harvest:)

And, here's how I prepared the green beans:

GARLIC & PEPPER GREEN BEANS

Directions:

1.  Add trimmed green beans to a skillet of boiling water and cook for 3-5 minutes, until tender crisp.

2.  Remove beans and set aside.  Dump out the remaining water.

3.  Return the skillet to the burner on medium heat.  Add a little butter and a little olive oil, enough to coat the bottom of the pan.

4.  Add diced garlic, kosher salt, black pepper, and a couple dashes of red pepper flakes.  Saute until garlic starts to brown.

5.  Return green beans to the pan and toss in the garlic, pepper oil, cooking for another minute.

I also served grilled chicken breasts that I marinated in Grill Mates Tomato, Basil and Garlic marinade this afternoon.  Grilled on Direct Medium heat for 9-10 minutes, the chicken was almost perfect:) 

July 19, 2011- Marinated Flank Steak

Katie and I went to Jen, Andy, and Jackson's house for our PEPS gathering tonight.  Since we hosted last time, we didn't have to take anything for the meal this time.  Jen marinated and grilled flank steak that was tender and full of flavor.  She mentioned that the marinade recipe included soy sauce, garlic, cumin, and several other ingredients I don't remember now.  We also had a caesar salad, a couscous salad, and peach cobbler with ice cream along with the meal.  Yum!  

July 6, 2011- Baja Citrus Chicken

If you've read my  blog for a while, you know that we use Grill Mates marinade seasoning packets frequently.  The packaging for each variety lists two or three proteins that the flavors will work best with.  I usually don't sway from that list.  But, tonight I decided to try the Baja Citrus marinade on chicken tenderloins.  It was pretty good.  I don't prefer it to some of the other flavors, but it was just fine.  I marinated the chicken for two hours before broiling it.  I made a salad of butter lettuce, sliced strawberries, glazed walnuts, and poppy seed dressing for our side.  It is such a great summer salad. 

June 8, 2011- Mesquite Pork Chops

Ben worked later than normal tonight, so I fed Katie before he got home.  She had a slice of left-over pizza for her meal.  Ben and I ate broiled pork chops that I marinated in Grill Mates Mesquite Marinade.  I usually overcook meat.  So, it was high praise when Ben said they couldn't have been cooked better:)  We had a side caesar without croutons to go with the pork chops. 

The best part of the meal was when Katie, who was watching "The Voice" in the den, came running in and said she needed a microphone.  I jumped up, pulled my mic from the closet, told her not to drop it or hit it on anything, and let her go.  She held it up to her mouth, humming and dancing along with the singers.  When each song ended, she would run into the dining room shouting "I did it!"  How awesome!  I love that little girl:)

By the way, "The Voice" is a fantastic new singing competition on NBC.  Far better than American Idol in my opinion. 

Thursday, 3/31/2011

Happy 31st birthday to my brother, Matt!  

I didn't get to celebrate with my brother today, but I did get a photo of his birthday cake from my dad.  They used lifesavers as candle holders on top of his cake.  What a fun idea!

We marinated and grilled pork chops and had a side of roasted broccoli with garlic for our dinner tonight.  The chops were marinated in Grill Mates Peppercorn and Garlic marinade for half of the day.  They cooked on Direct Medium heat for ten minutes, five on each side. 

Katie was a really good eater today.  She ate the pork I gave her without any complaints and even asked for more.  She tried the broccoli, but ended up spitting it out.  Since Ben and I only started liking broccoli last year, we can hardly blame her.  I was just pleased she was willing to try it.  Perhaps she doesn't like how crispy and charred we make it.  To be honest, I know I couldn't eat it raw or even steamed.  The garlic and charred flavors help me forget it's broccoli:)

Thursday, 3/24/2011

Ben says that the chicken I made tonight was some of the best chicken he has ever had.  Whoo hoo!  I took a marinade recipe that my brother-in-law used and tweaked it based on what I had in the house.  Here's the recipe I ended up with.

MUSTARD AND HERB CHICKEN MARINADE

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Canola Oil
1/4 cup White Vinegar
1/4 cup Dijon Mustard
1/2 cup Lime Juice
1 tsp chopped Garlic
1 tsp Lemon Pepper
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Thyme
1 tbsp Oregano

I marinated four bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs in this mixture for an hour and half.  They grilled, skin side up, on indirect medium heat for 50 minutes.  I did not turn them over.  They were perfectly delicious and tender.

Katie kept refusing to eat any chicken until we told her she couldn't have any yogurt until she ate a bite.  She ate her bite, agreed that it was yummy, and then gobbled down a handful of bite-sized pieces.  Three sat at our table for dinner, and all three were satisfied with the same food.  How nice:)

Tuesday, 1/11/2011

We finished the marinated flank steak tonight with a Southwest salad on the side.  I made the salad with leafy romaine lettuce, corn, crushed Tostitos Artisan Fire Roasted Chipotle chips, and Marie's creamy chipotle ranch dressing.  I've been looking for this dressing for months and finally found it at the Fred Meyer's in Redmond.  What a lucky find!  The salad was very tasty.  The only thing that could have made it better was bacon:)

Saturday, 1/8/2011

I bought a flank steak at the beginning of the week and finally got around to using it today.  It was a close one.  I think one more day and it would have been thrown out.  Once again, I made up a batch of marinade from Grill Mates.  I used the Montreal Steak flavor today.  The recipe says to add water, oil and red wine or white vinegar.  I went with red wine.  Now that I am reading the recipe again, I wonder if it was implying red wine vinegar or white vinegar.  Oh well, too late now;)  The marinade wasn't as thick as most of them we've used.  It didn't seem to stick to the meat as well.  As a result, the flavor was a little light.  But, it was still good.  Ben braved the cold weather and grilled the steak.  Mine portion of the steak was still a bit bloody when he brought it in, so I opted to nuke it in the microwave until it was more done. 

Ben made a nice fruit salad of raspberries, bananas, and pears to go with the steak.  All three of us enjoyed our meal. Katie consumed her berries before Ben and I sat down at the table:)

Wednesday, 1/5/2011

I marinated three large, bone-in pork chops for our dinner tonight.  I used Grill Mates Peppercorn Garlic marinade packet.  This may have been the first time we used this flavor on pork.  It turned out REALLY good:)  I broiled the chops on high for 8 minutes on the first side and 7 minutes on the other.  I think we agreed that they were done perfectly:)  We had a caesar salad for our side dish. 

When I look back at my previous posts, I see that I frequently marinate the meats we eat.  I don't think I ever marinated or broiled before I met Ben.  So, thanks Ben for introducing me to that method of preparation. 

Monday, 1/3/2011

We had chicken and peas for dinner tonight.  I took a pound of chicken tenderloins and marinated them for three hours in Grill Mates Tomato Garlic Basil marinade.  I broiled them on high for 8 minutes.  Yum!  The tenderloins really take on the flavor of marinades exceptionally well.  We ate up the rest of the sugar snap peas I prepared yesterday with the following tasty dipping sauce.  I only made a half recipe of the sauce, because a little goes a long way.  Katie really liked the peas and only ate a few bites of chicken tonight.

SPICY LEMON DIPPING SAUCE- from Alton Brown's cookbook "I'm Just Here for the Food, volume 2.0"

Ingredients:
2/3 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup sour cream
Zest from one lemon, chopped fine
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon red chili flakes
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the mayo, sour cream, lemon zest, lemon juice, red pepper flakes and tarragon.  Taste and add salt and pepper as desired.

It is very important to only use dry peas.  The dip won't stick to wet peas.  The dip also goes well with carrots and other fresh veggies. 

Tuesday, 11/16/2010

We hosted our PEPS group tonight.  It was a really fun evening.  The kids played together nicely, for the most part.  I particularly enjoyed the end of the evening when they were all wearing and sharing Katie's Mardi Gras necklaces:)  And, the adults were able to have good conversations.  

In the past, the hosting family would provide the complete meal.  Tonight was the first time we tried making it a potluck.  We are going to give it a full rotation before we decide to stick with the potlucks or go back to the other option. 

Ben grilled chicken drumsticks and thighs, that I prepped in a lemon and herb marinade, and we provided beverages.  The rest of the group brought the rest of the meal: a green salad, pasta salad, bread, snacks for the kids, and a spice cake from Macrina Bakery.  We got the chicken marinade recipe from Ben's brother, Spencer.  He used it several months ago when we had dinner at his house.  In order to marinate 14 drumsticks and 8 thighs, I tripled the following marinade recipe.

LEMON HERB CHICKEN MARINADE

Mix together the following ingredients.

1/2 cup Canola Oil
1/4 cup White Vinegar
1/4 cup Dijon Mustard
1/2 cup Lemon Juice
2 tbsp Lemon Zest
1 clove Garlic, chopped
1 tsp Lemon Pepper
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Thyme
1 tbsp Oregano

Marinate for 2-6 hours.

Monday, 11/15/2010

We had marinated pork chops, roasted garlic and olive oil wheat couscous, and a green salad for dinner.  I marinated the pork chops in Stubb's Pork Marinade for six hours.  I broiled them in the oven on high for 7 minutes on the first side and 6 minutes on the second side.  They were cooked perfectly according to Ben:)  Couscous continues to be a big hit in our house.  Katie loves it, but it is even more messy than rice.  It gets everywhere.  I like how quickly it cooks--only five minutes after the water boils.

For our green salad, I added diced pears and glazed walnuts to sweet butter lettuce.  I dressed the salad with a delicious homemade balsamic vinegar and honey dressing.  A little of this dressing goes a long way.  I have historically used too much when I have made this salad.  Tonight I used less than normal, but it was still too much for Ben.  Even so, he gladly finished his salad.  

Monday, 10/25/2010

Just like yesterday, today didn't go as I planned.  Our internet connection went down yesterday afternoon and still wasn't back today.  I waited around the house this morning for a call regarding the service appointment that never came.  So, our morning grocery shopping trip was postponed until this afternoon.  The technician showed up about 10 minutes before I was going to put Katie down for her nap.  She was so excited to have the tech in the house, that there was no way I could get her down until he was gone.  She kept saying his name, Jason, and "fix it" over and over again.  It was pretty cute:)  She also kept trying to make sure he knew that there was a vacuum in the room with him by saying "vacuum" repeatedly too. 

When our connection was re-established and Jason said goodbye, Katie finally went down for her nap.  We weren't ready to go grocery shopping until 4pm.  I looked out the window and saw a sheet of rain outside.  Great.  I called Ben and offered to pick him up from work so that he wouldn't have to come home via the bus in that weather.  He was kind enough to accept my offer and then go grocery shopping with us.  Katie had been asking to be in the car cart at the store all day.  When we got to Fred Meyer, the car cart was already claimed by another family.  Fortunately for us, the dad offered us the cart since his son had been in it many times.  His son was not very happy about it.  In fact, we "drove" past him once and he glared at us.  Oh well.  At least Katie was happy! 

When we got home, we broiled chicken breasts that I had marinated in Grill Mates Chipotle Pepper Marinade.  The chicken was moist and delicious.  Ben and I really enjoyed it.  We had iceberg lettuce wedge salads with the chicken.  Katie would not even touch the chicken to her lips tonight.  Instead, she ate half a hot dog, dipped into ketchup, and drank water with ice and a little diet lemon/lime carbonated water in it.  She was a happy girl:)

Saturday, 9/11/2010

A couple days ago I put four chicken breasts into a chipotle pepper marinade.  My original intention was to use it that night, but we ended up having other things instead.  Tonight we needed to have dinner in a hurry and grilling the chicken was our fastest option.  I learned a valuable lesson...marinate chicken for a long time!  The chicken was awesome--the kind you hope to find on a pub sandwich.  This was the first time we have used this flavor of Grill Mates marinade.  We were both really impressed.  We served it with a caesar salad.  

Katie wouldn't even touch the chicken to her mouth.  She opted for a "ha dahg".  That is toddler speak for "hot dog".

Monday, 8/16/2010

Katie and I picked up Ben from work today on our way home from the grocery stores.  I drove up to Ballard so that we could go to Fred Meyer and the relatively new Trader Joe's.  It is really hot today, and I didn't want to heat up the house by cooking. So, I opted to grill instead.  I bought a flank steak pre-marinated in kalbi sauce at Fred Meyer.  The butcher was nice enough to offer me a steak from the bottom, because it would have been sitting in more sauce.  Ben grilled the steak on direct medium heat while I made up a salad.  I used sweet butter lettuce and added a poppy seed dressing and glazed walnuts.  The sweetness of the dressing was a nice compliment to the kalbi sauce.  Ben said the steaks were on the grill too long, but I still liked mine a lot. Katie had a little steak and cheddar cheese.  I gave her a piece of lettuce, but she stuck out her tongue and gave it back to me. 

Tuesday, 8/3/2010

Tonight we broiled marinated pork chops for our meal. I marinated them in Grill Mates Zesty Herb Marinade. They were pretty thick chops and would have been better baked than broiled. We had a simple spinach salad--spinach leaves, sunflower seeds, and an Asian sesame dressing. Katie worked on a pb&j sandwich, leftover from lunch.

Tuesday, 7/13/2010

Ben went out for a run as soon as he got home from work today. Katie didn't seem like she could wait to eat, so I started to boil water for corn early. I thought she would gobble it down, based on how much she corn she has eaten in the last couple of weeks. Nope, not tonight. She nibbled at it a bit, but I think she didn't want to eat alone. When Ben got home, we started up the grill and put a marinated flank steak on. I also put corn in to boil for Ben and me. I marinated the steak in Grill Mates Brown Sugar Bourbon marinade. This was our first time using that flavor. We really enjoyed it. Now, if only I can find it in the store again! These marinade packets seem to come and go quickly on the shelves.

Once Ben and I sat down at the table, Katie was ready to eat. She kept opening her mouth wide, like a baby bird, for more steak and water. She really likes to drink from Ben's water glass, as long as it has ice in it:) She still didn't eat her corn, but at least she ate something.

Wednesday, 6/30/2010

The last time I was at Costco, I purchased chicken tenderloins instead of chicken breasts. The breasts they sell usually come with the tenderloins attached. And, we find those are the most tender and tasty parts. When I noticed that tenders were sold separately and at $0.10 less than the breasts, it seemed like a no-brainer. I was right!

Tonight I marinated a package of the tenders for only 15 minutes and then Ben put them on the grill for 10 minutes. They were flavored throughout and were still moist and tender. I marinated them in Grill Mates Tomato, Garlic, and Basil marinade. Katie was eating her chicken faster than we could cut it up for her. Yes! She wouldn't touch the banana I cut up for her and really enjoyed drinking water out of a straw. Ben and I finished off our left-over couscous and had spinach with balsamic vinaigrette. It was a good, simple dinner.

Friday, 6/25/2010

It was "Meet Your Neighbors Night" at the Ackers home tonight. We've lived in our house for over four years. Three years ago, Mike and Cary moved in a couple houses away on the other side of the street. A year and a half ago, Bonnie and Ian moved in next to Mike and Cary. We've always been friendly with each other, but our conversations have always been brief and outside in front of our houses. We learned earlier this year that Bonnie and Ian are expecting a baby, Oliver, next month. It seemed like a good time to get to know each other better. So, tonight we invited them to come over for dinner.

Our friend Lyn offered to share the recipe for the delicious orange chicken we had at her house a couple weeks ago. I accepted excitedly! Not only did she share the recipe, she gave me most of the ingredients. I only had to pick up cinnamon sticks and chicken breasts. The rest of the ingredients I already had or she gave me. Thanks Lyn! (Recipe at the bottom of the post followed by my comments.)

To go with the chicken, our neighbors brought over several pasta salads they purchased at local grocery stores. They were all quite yummy. We finished the meal with vanilla ice cream with Special Dark Hershey's chocolate syrup. Oh yes, and we had quite a bit of delicious wine. We started with a Malbec, followed it with a Red Table Wine, and then had a Pinot Nior. At the end of the night, we feel like we have some really good neighbors:)

POLLO PIBIL
From "Cafe Pasqual's Cookbook" by Katharine Kagel

It is best to let the chicken marinate for 24 hours.
Serves 6.

Ingredients:
4 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 Mexican cinnamon stick, about 3 inches
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 1/2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
1/2 cup achiote paste (see note below)
3 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons finely minced garlic
2 cups fresh orange juice
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespooons stemmed fresh marjoram leaves, or 1 tablespoon dried marjoram leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
6 chicken breast halves

Directions:

To prepare the chicken, combine the cumin, cinnamon, and cloves in a small, dry saute pan over medium heat. Roast, shaking the pan frequently, until the aromas are released, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool. Place the spices in a spice mill or coffee grinder and grind until pulverized. Alternatively, pulverize in a mortar using a pestle.

Combine spices with all of the remaining ingredients, except the chicken, in a blender or food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process just long enough to incorporate.

Put the chicken breasts in a shallow glass dish. Pour the spice mixture evenly over the top to cover completely. Cover and place in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 24 hours or up to 36 hours, turning frequently.

Grill and enjoy!

Ok, if you read the directions above, you know this is a homemade marinade. Usually, I marinade with store-bought packets of seasoning that I only have to add water, oil, and vinegar to. The prep time for this one took me by surprise.

I was not prepared to have to roast and pulverize spices. We have a coffee grinder, but grinding spices in it was outlawed by Ben in our house several years ago after a fennel seed experiment. He could taste fennel in his coffee for weeks. So, I tried to pulverize the spices in our food processor. It worked a little. After letting it "process" for several minutes, I decided that not much more was going to happen there. I tried to crush the big pieces of cinnamon and cloves with a spoon in a bowl. That didn't do anything. So, I sifted out the pulverized spices and tossed out the remaining large pieces. I knew that might affect the balance of the marinade, but didn't have much of a choice. It was already 10pm and I still had work to do.

For the achiote paste, I used two packets of Sazon Goya's Con Culantro y Achiote. The recipe says to use a paste, and the packets say to add water, but I did neither. I just used two packets of this seasoning per Lyn's instructions and it was great. There is already a lot of liquid in the marinade; there is no need for more.

I had to squeeze 7 limes in order to get a 1/2 cup of juice. Lyn gave me 4 and I used 3 that I had at home. All were pretty tough and would not release their juices. That was another time suck. Thankfully, the rest of the ingredients were easy to measure out without additional preparation. I did manage to not read the last bit of the instructions that said to turn the chicken breasts frequently in the marinade. Just saw that now. Oops! I can now say, from experience, that the chicken will still taste wonderful, even if you only use a portion of the spices and forget to turn the breasts over in the marinade.

Now that I know what it takes to make this marinade, I am going to invest in a spice grinder. This recipe is DEFINITELY worth making again.

Monday, 5/17/2010

We finished off our left over grilled chicken breasts tonight. I fixed a spinach, strawberry, and pear salad, with a balsamic vinaigrette. Katie was a super fan of strawberries today. She had some with each meal. Nothing more to share about this meal:)