Labor Day barbeque

Happy Labor Day 

I hope that you are able to enjoy a relaxing Labor Day with your family and friends today.  It's going to be a rainy day in Georgia but I am looking forward to spending some quality time with my family in spite of the weather.  I feel like we have been heading in four different directions lately and I'm excited about hanging out with Ben and the kids today.

If your Labor Day plans include a cookout - give this barbeque chicken a try.  You might be surprised how many people choose chicken over hamburgers.  

Barbecue Chicken
1 Tablespoon sugar           
½ teaspoon ginger
1 Tablespoon chili powder       
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 ½ Tablespoons olive oil       
½ teaspoon pepper
1 ½ teaspoons salt           
¾ teaspoon garlic powder
6 chicken breasts

Combine the first 8 ingredients and rub on chicken breasts.  Grill chicken until no longer pink inside.  Brush with your favorite barbeque sauce and grill until browned.  Serve with more barbeque sauce. 

There will definitely be a cookout at my house today - in between the rain showers.  We have a new Green Egg Table and we are going to put it to good use today.

Do you have a favorite Labor Day cookout food?  Send me a comment.

Bon Appetit!

There's a change in the air

Maybe it was wishful thinking but today I felt like there was the slightest hint of Fall in the air.  As much as I love summer, now that it's September, I'm ready for some cooler Fall weather.  One of my favorite Fall activities is working in my yard.  I had big plans for some of the flower beds in my yard and today was a perfect day to get started.  Weather forecasters are predicting rain for Georgia for the next couple of days - thanks tropical storm Lee.  Since water is at a premium in Georgia, we decided to take full advantage of the weather and move our plants before the rain moves in this afternoon to do some watering for us. 

I haven't take pictures of my newly designed flower beds yet - I am waiting until I can get a layer of fresh mulch spread to make them look even better.   In the meantime, here are some of the flowers that are blooming in my yard now. 

  

I was having so much fun in the yard today that time got away from me and I don't have a lot of time to get dinner ready.  Luckily, tonight's dinner was quick and easy and ready in no time.  I adapted this recipe for Grilled Salmon with Almond Vinaigrette from the 2009 May/June issue of Cook's Illustrated magazine.  It was super simple and really tasty. 

Grilled Salmon with Almond Vinaigrette
4 salmon filets (I used frozen Silverbrite salmon filets.)
vegetable oil
salt and pepper

Vinaigrette
1/3 cup toasted almonds
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
4 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon cold water
1 teaspoon fresh thyme

Dip a wad of paper towels into vegetable oil, holding towels with tongs and wipe grate. Continue to wipe with oiled towels until grate is black and glossy.  Season fish with salt and pepper.  Place fish, skin side down on grate and cook 3-5 minutes.  Flip fish over and cook on the second side for 2-5 minutes.
Chop almonds.  Add honey, mustard and vinegar to almonds.  Whisking constantly, drizzle in oil until emulsion forms.  Add water and thyme.  Serve vinaigrette over fish.

My husband and I finished every last bite of our salmon.   It was so delicious.

Bon Appetit!

Overnight Eggs

Last night we went to the Celebrate Freedom concert.  If you live in Atlanta and you've never been to a Celebrate Feedom concert - I highly recommend it.  Lots of great music - Switchfoot, Echoing Angels, Josh Wilson and Newsboys - just to name a few.  We were having such a good time that no one wanted to leave so it turned out to be a very late night.  I was really glad that I had made breakfast ahead of time so I didn't have to wake up early. 

I love this egg casserole recipe because I can make it the day before I want to serve it and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight.  In the morning, all I need to do is to preheat the oven and then pop the eggs in to cook.  Breakfast doesn't get much easier than that. 

Baked Egg Casserole
6 slices bread                           ½ teaspoon dry mustard
6 eggs                                      ½ teaspoon salt
2 cups milk                             ¼ teaspoon pepper
1 cup grated cheddar              1 pound sausage or bacon
1 cup grated mozzarella

Fry sausage or bacon.  Crumble bread into a greased 9x13 pan.  Beat eggs, mustard, salt, pepper and milk.  Pour over bread.  Sprinkle crumbled sausage or bacon over top.  Refrigerate overnight.

 Bake uncovered 50-55 minutes at 350.

This is a perfect recipe to use when you are serving breakfast to guests.  When I am entertaining company for breakfast, I put the eggs in the oven to bake and I cut up fresh fruit and get the rest of my meal ready.  By the time the eggs are finished baking, breakfast is ready to be served.

I have seen a lot of different variations of this egg casserole recipe.  When I lived in Texas, I often made it with a can of green chilies.  I've also made it with chopped vegetables.  (spinach, bell pepper, mushrooms and green onion) You can get really creative and use different types of cheese as well.  Give this recipe a try and post a comment with your version of egg casserole.

Bon Appetit!

Blueberry Extravaganza

Saturday morning pancake breakfasts are the best.  I like to load my oatmeal pancakes with blueberries and drizzle them with maple syrup.  These are not the smooth velvety pancakes that you are probably used to.  These pancakes have a hearty texture and a slight crunch.  They're made with oats and whole wheat flour and in my case, lots of blueberries. 

Normally, I have a strict no begging policy when we are eating and Mia (my beloved Weimaraner)  usually lays down beside the table.  The smell of this morning pancakes must have been more than she could tolerate though because she stared at my son and his plate of pancakes like it she was going to take it.  I just couldn't resist snapping a quick picture before I sent her away from the table. 

Country Crunch Pancakes
1 cup flour                                    ½ teaspoon salt
¼ cups whole wheat flour            1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
½  cup oats                                   1 ¼ cups buttermilk, low fat or non fat
1 Tablespoon sugar                      1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder           1 Tablespoon oil
½ teaspoon baking soda        

Combine flours, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  In separate bowl, combine buttermilk, egg and oil.  Stir into dry ingredients.

 Pour ¼ cupfuls of batter onto a hot griddle and add blueberries.

                  

My kids ate their pancakes plain (without blueberries) and they really enjoyed them.  These pancakes were a great way to kick off a busy weekend.  Now that we are fueled with whole grain energy, we can hit the day running.  I'm off to take the dog for a walk.

Have a great weekend. 

Bon Appetit!

TGIF

The kids are home from school - let the holiday weekend officially begin.  To start the weekend off on a sweet note - I made a batch of  Nestle Toll House Layers of Love Chocolate Brownies.  Loaded with white chocolate chips, pecans, caramel syrup and chocolate chips - these brownies are hard to resist.

Layers of Love Chocolate Brownies
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa (I used Special Dark cocoa)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Grease an 8" square baking pan.  Combine flour, salt and cocoa.  Beat butter and sugars in a standing mixer.   Add 2 eggs and beat well.  Add vanilla.  Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Reserve 3/4 cup batter.  Spread remaining batter in pan and sprinkle with nuts and white chocolate chips.  Drizzle caramel sauce over the top.  Beat reserved batter with remaining egg.  Spread over caramel topping.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips.  Bake 35 minutes at 350. 

This was my first attempt at these brownies and I must say they were a little gooey.  I had to put the brownies in the freezer for an hour so that I could get them out of the pan.  They were much easier to cut and to handle when they were slightly frozen. 

If you like your brownies fudgey and chocolatey - this recipe is for you.   I can tell you that they were very sweet - even for me! 

After a quick treat the boys are off to the pool.  Have a great Friday. 

Bon Appetit!

Why do I do what I do?

What motivates me to wake up and put my walking shoes on every morning?  

This is one thing: 

This is the other thing:

For those of you who are not familiar with my beloved dog - her name is Mia.  She's a 4 year old Weimaraner that abounds with energy.   She wakes us up at 6:00 every morning, ready to eat her breakfast and then go for her walk.  She makes me feel so guilty when we don't walk, that I don't often skip it.   Our walk helps Mia get rid of some of her energy but it also helps me wake up my muscles and my lungs.  We walk with a friend who keeps us moving at a good pace so there is no slacking on the walk either.

The other reason that I like to workout is so that I can indulge in a treat every once in a while without feeling guilty.  It may not be the most inspirational reason for exercising but I am motivated by dessert, what can I say?  As I was sweating through my Insanity workout this morning, I was dreaming of eating a Chocolate Caramel Thumbprint cookie.  (I'm pretty sure this is not how the program is intended to work but it works for me.)

Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints
½ cup butter                               Filling
2/3 cup sugar                             12-14 caramels
1 egg                                             3 Tablespoons whipping cream
2 Tablespoons milk                   ½ cups chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla               
1 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup finely chopped hazelnuts, toasted

Cream butter and sugar.  Beat in egg yolk, milk and vanilla.  Combine flour, cocoa and salt.  Add to creamed mixture.  Refrigerate dough 1 hour.  Roll into 1” balls.  Beat egg whites.  Dip balls in egg whites and coat with nuts.  Place 2” apart on baking sheets.  Bake 10-12 minutes at 350.  As soon as they come out of the oven, make an indentation in the center of each cookie.  Cool on wire racks.
In saucepan, melt caramels and cream.  Stir until smooth.  Fill each cookie with ½ teaspoon caramel.  In microwave, melt chocolate and drizzle over cookies.

These deep dark chocolate cookies melt in your mouth.  The caramel filling and chocolate drizzle makes them even more decadent.  It had been a couple of years since I had made these cookies and I had forgotten just how good they were.

I packed some of these cookies to take on a trip and I was disappointed that they didn't travel as well as I thought they would.  I put them in a Tupperware container and stacked them with layers of waxed paper in between.  After a 3 hour car ride, they were already sticky and looking squished.  Don't let that discourage you from making them however.  I recommend making them when you have guests at your house. 

Bon Appetit!

Meatloaf Madness

Frozen meals are great if you can remember to take them out of the freezer and defrost them in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours before you want to serve.  I am guilty of forgetting to take things out of the freezer and then having to change dinner plans because our dinner is still frozen.  This meatloaf recipe just solved that problem - it goes right from the freezer to the oven - no defrosting!   I found this recipe for Make Ahead Meatloaf from the 2011 February/March issue of Cooks Country.  I decided to give it a try so I went out and bought 3 disposable loaf pans and went to work, making 3 meatloaves to stock up my freezer for busy nights. 

Make Ahead Meatloaf
2 teaspoons oil
1 onion, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic
28 saltine crackers
1 3/4 pounds bratwurst, uncooked, casings removed
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 eggs + 1 egg yolk
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Glaze
1/2 cup ketchup
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce

Heat oil in skillet.  Add onion and cook until browned.  Add garlic and cook another 30 seconds.  Transfer mixture to a large bowl.  Process saltines in food processor..  Transfer to bowl with onion mixture.  Pulse beef and bratwurst in food processor until just combined.  Add meat mixture, cream, eggs, yolk, mustard, Worcestershire, thyme, parsley, salt and pepper to bowl.  knead until combined.  Press mixture into 3 disposable 8” loaf pans.

 
Place plastic wrap on the top of the meat and around the pan.  Wrap a second time with aluminum foil.  Label pans and freeze for up to 1 month.

Unwrap 1 meatloaf and set it in a roasting pan.  Put pan on middle rack in the oven and pour boiling water into pan until water reaches 1” below the top of the meatloaf pan.  Bake 40 -50 minutes or until temperature reaches 150.  I used the probe that is attached to my oven to ensure that the meatloaf was cooked through, but any thermometer will do.

Whisk together glaze ingredients in saucepan and simmer until thickened.Remove meatloaf from oven, turn out onto foil lined baking sheet and cover top and sides with 2 Tablespoons of glaze.  Turn oven to broil and broil loaf 5-10 min. or until glaze begins to brown.

Transfer to serving platter, tent with foil and let rest 20 minutes before serving.  Pass remaining glaze at the table.

There was a split decision of this meatloaf.  My daughter loved it so much that she ate 3 servings.  My son didn't even finish one portion.  I thought it was really tasty.  The bratwurst gave it a nice smoky flavor and the broiled glaze added a hint of sweetness.  (My husband was out of town so he didn't get to weigh in on the meatloaf decision.)  The other two meatloaves are still in my freezer and now that I know how easy they are to take out and bake - I can't wait to serve them.   This is a great meal for a busy night. 

Bon Appetit!