Fire Wire and Citrus Sauce

My mom gave us a cool gadget called a "Fire Wire".  Instead of using the wooden skewers for grilling, the Fire Wire is metal and very flexible and long.  It allows a large amount of food to be placed on each, can bend and twist for small grills or ovens, and the loop/handle stays cool.  We've used it twice in the past week and love it!  Only downside is having to take the food off the wire before serving, since each wire can hold up to 2-3 servings. Available online or at specialty kitchen shops and nicer grocery stores in the Seattle area.

While testing out the Fire Wire with huge baja shrimp, I made a really tasty marinade/sauce.  Take about 1/3-1/2 cup orange marmalade and mix in 2-3 tsp whole grain mustard.  I placed the shrimp on the bbq, and after flipping I coated the cooked side with the sauce.  I coated the other side of the shrimp before serving. (sauce will burn due to sugar content, so don't apply before grilling) 

It added a nice citrus kick that wasn't too sweet.  This citrus-mustard shrimp would go great on a salad or even a side of rice for a quick and easy meal.

Lime Shandie

Lime Shandie
1/8 c. fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp sugar
2 cans lighter beer

Combine first two ingredients together and mix until sugar is disolved.  Divide between two chilled glasses.  Pour a light beer in to each glass and enjoy!

A refreshing lime flavored beer for a hot day.

Hot Chicken on a Hot Day

Because a nice, hot day outside makes everyone want to roast a chicken for a few hours in their oven... Clearly the weatherman's prediction of clouds was wrong, and I'm not complaining about it.  But, I probably wouldn't have roasted a chicken...

I stuffed the bird's cavity with a quartered onion, 3 sliced garlic cloves, a lemon cut in to 8 chunks, fresh lemon thyme, salt and pepper.  On the outside I sprinkled the bird with salt and pepper and drizzled a little olive oil.  I let a few slices of lemon and onion pieces sit alongside the chicken while it cooked giving the juices a little more flavor. 

Roast at 425 for 15 minutes, breast side down.  Then reduce to 350 degrees and cook until chicken is done.  Baste with juices throughout the cooking time.

Total time is usually 15 minutes per pound and a few minutes rest time once out of the oven.  Make sure the juices run clear if you poke skin/meat and the internal temperature is 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer.

Patriotic Cake

Do you know what you're making for the 4th of July?  I do!  Gotta love Elissa Berstein and her blog 17 and Baking.  She just graduated from high school in the area and has an award winning blog with some pretty impressive recipes and ideas.  I like this gal! 

Today she was on New Day Northwest, that daytime show on King 5 with the theme song that always gets stuck in my head (not a good thing).  She showed how to create a patriotic cake that is so simple I just can't stand it! Yes, I understand some of you classify my 'simple' as not being your kind of 'simple', but in all things baking - this is dang simple for the end product.  (Below is a screen shot I took from the show of finished cake)

You can create this cute cake with cake mix to save a lot of time.  Two boxes of any white cake mix is what you'll need (each box makes two layers).  Though you will end up with an extra cake layer as her recipe calls for three layers.  You'll just have an extra layer to snack on!

But, I think I'll be using all 4 layers to make my cake.  Why you ask?  Because if I want to be truely patriotic and serve a flag cake I'm going to be overly anal and put a red layer on the top and bottom of cake, just like our flag (the recipe has a white layer on the bottom and red as top layer).  

Like  I said, overly anal.  But, I can hear my grandma getting all giddy about seeing this recipe on TV and making it right now (and she would do the same thing with putting red layer on top and bottom...).  And, calling me and telling me all about it.  She would loooove this cake.

You can visit the New Day Northwest website and watch a video on how to make the cake.  Elissa does a great job explaining every step.  Enjoy!

The below recipe is pretty long and I haven't read through or edited, and have not baked this cake yet.  Or, you can use two boxes of cake mix and follow directions on box for 8" or 9" round cakes.  There is a recipe for cream cheese frosting at very bottom.  I do highly recommend you make your own frosting.  It doesn't take much effort and the end result is SO much better than the store bought stuff...

Red, White & Blue Cake Recipe, courtesy of 17 and Baking by Elissa Bernstein

Makes 3 - 8” (or 9”) rounds

3 cups + 6 tablespoons cake flour

1 ½ tablespoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups (scant) whole milk or buttermilk

6 large egg whites

1 ½ cup sugar

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

1 ½ stick (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

¾ teaspoon pure lemon extract

Gel or powder food coloring

*If you don’t have buttermilk, make it by combining 2 tbsp lemon juice with two scant cup of whole milk for five minutes. Finally you want really soft butter, with the texture of mayonnaise.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and put a rack in the middle or upper third of the oven. Butter three 8″ (or 9”) x 2″ pans and line with buttered parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the egg whites and buttermilk.

Cream the butter, zest, and sugar in a mixer on medium speed for a full 3 minutes until very light and fluffy. Beat in the lemon extract, then add 1/3 of the flour mixture, still on medium speed.

Beat in half of the egg-buttermilk mixture, then half of the remaining flour mixture, then the last of the egg-buttermilk mixture, and finally the last of the flour, beating until the batter is smooth. Beat the entire batter on medium high for two minutes until completely smooth and mixed.

To make the cake, you use three layers of the white batter. Using food coloring, one layer is dyed blue, one is dyed red, and the last layer is kept white. Divide the batter in three equal parts (it’s about 9 cups total batter.). Pour one color of batter into one of the 3 prepared pans, smoothing the tops with a spatula. Bake 25-30 minutes, rotating halfway through, or until a thin knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pans five minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack.

The three layers are leveled so they are all the same height. Let’s say each layer is 2 inches tall.

Using a serrated knife or cake leveler, slice the red and white layers horizontally in half. So you have a blue layer (2″thick ), two red layers (each 1″ thick ), and two white layers (each 1″thick). Set one white and one red layer aside, those will be the bottom two stripes of the flag.

Stack the blue layer, white layer, and red layer on top of each other. Using a serrated knife, cut a large circle through all three layers. I used a bowl as a guide. Now you have a ring of blue (2″thick), a ring of white (1″ thick), a ring of red (1″ thick), and three inner circles in each color (the blue is 2″ and the other two are both 1″). Set aside the inner circle of blue and the outer rings of red and white and use for a festive trifle or just eat it while still in the kitchen.

To assemble the cake, frost the bottom two layers together – set the uncut white layer on a plate and spread it with frosting. Top with the uncut red layer. Spread the uncut red layer with frosting, then set the blue ring on top. Use a spatula to spread a very, very thin layer of frosting around the inside edge of the blue ring. This will help keep the blue layer and the two top stripes together.

Place the white inner circle on top of the uncut red layer, inside the ring of blue. Frost, and top with the red inner circle. Frost the entire cake and voila, it’s a flag cake!

Cream Cheese Frosting, courtesy of The Joy of Cooking

Makes enough to frost and fill this cake

16 oz cream cheese

10 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

4 tsp vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Beat the cream cheese, butter, and extract together until combined. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until the desired consistency is reached.

Thinning the Garden

Today I thinned out the carrots.  These little mini carrots were just too cute to not take a picture of.  I even took a bite of one, and although it was only 1/2" long, it tasted so good!

Toddler Pasta

I saw a recipe for Toddler Pasta in an issue of Parents Magazine a few years back and had to try it.  Over time I have edited the recipe here and there and have found a perfect combo.  Blake really enjoys this dish and scarfs it down every time.

Almost all the veggies can be purchased in the freezer section minimizing prep work. Enjoy!

Toddler Veggie Pasta, adapted from a Parents Magazine recipe

1 1/2 c. acini de pepe (Blake and I prefer to use star shaped pasta)

1/2 c. finely diced carrots

1/2 c. finely diced red bell peppers

1/2 c. frozen baby peas

1/2 c. finely chopped broccoli

1/2 c. frozen whole kernel corn

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/8 tsp pepper

small dash of salt

Cook pasta in slightly salted boiling water for approximately 7 minutes. Stir in all the veggies and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Drain. Mix in olive oil and pepper/salt.

Makes approximately 6-8 kid sized servings.  (Tony and I eat this too - its pretty tasty!)

Variety:

You can use almost any type of favorite veggies in this pasta.  And, you can always increase or decrease amounts of certain veggies too!

Add a cup or two of low-sodium chicken broth to the finished pasta and now you have soup!

Blueberry Tart

I made this dessert two years ago at a 'Cabinpalooza' party we had with a bunch of friends.  This tart is the perfect finish to a summer meal and beautiful to look at.  I thought it would be the perfect ending to Tony's Father's Day.

Blueberry Tart, courtesty of Everyday Food

Crust:

1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for dusting

1/3 c. sugar

1/4 tsp salt

8 Tbsp (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Filling:

6 c. (six 1/2-pint containers) fresh blueberries, rinsed and dried

2 Tbsp cornstarch

2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

2/3 c. sugar

Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, salt, and butter; process until large moist crumbs form (dough should hold together when squeezed).

Transfer dough to a 9-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom; with floured fingers, press evenly into bottom and up sides. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes; prick bottom of dough all over with a fork. Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes; cool completely.

Meanwhile, reserve 1 cup of the prettiest berries for topping. In a medium saucepan, bring 1/4 cup water and 1 1/2 cups berries to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat; simmer, stirring occasionally, until berries begin to break down, 3 to 4 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water; stir into berries in pan. Add lemon zest and juice, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, stirring, just until mixture begins to thicken, 30 to 60 seconds. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining 3 1/2 cups fresh berries. Immediately pour hot berry mixture into cooled tart shell, and smooth with a spatula.
Scatter reserved berries on top, pressing down lightly to help them adhere. Refrigerate until cool, about 30 minutes and up to overnight.

Dinner?

Can you guess what we'll be having for dinner for the next couple months?....

To get an idea of size, my husband is about 6'4" tall... and that fish is about 65lbs...

Pecan Sticky Rolls

I saw a recipe in the Seattle Times which looked too tasty and easy to be true.  Homemade (okay, semi-homemade) Brown Sugar and Pecan sticky rolls.  I couldn't resist giving them a shot, especially since the main ingredient is pizza dough - either made from scratch or store bought.

After rolling dough to the correct size, covering with butter, rerolling and chilling for a short period, you sprinkle with the sugar mixture, nuts and butter.

Roll in to a log...

Slice log in to twelve rolls...

Place in greased 9x13 baking dish and bake 30-40 minutes.

And presto - a most delicious smelling breakfast treat!

There was a MAJOR flaw in my finished product unfortunately.  The smell, the look, the flavor, the gooeyness were all amazing.  The texture was dreadful.  The rolls were super chewy and very tough to bit in to.  I should have listened to my instincts when I noticed the pizza dough I had chosen was very stretchy and did not want to hold it's shape. I had to use my hands to finally get it in a rectangle. I won't mention names, but I purchased it from my local market in the frozen section - shaped similar to a hockey puck.  And a hocky puck it should be.  If I make these again I will either use Trader Joe's refrigerated dough or try making dough from scratch.

Brown Sugar and Pecan Sticky Buns, courtesy of Seattle Times and Everyday Food

Makes 12 rolls

All-purpose flour for the work surface

1 recipe Basic Pizza Dough (see above) or 2 pounds store-bought pizza dough, thawed if frozen

1 cup plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 3/4 sticks), room temperature, divided

1 cup packed dark-brown sugar

1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1. On a floured work surface, roll dough to a 10-by-18-inch rectangle. Dot upper two-thirds of dough with 1 cup butter, fold bottom third of dough over half the butter, then fold top third down to cover remaining dough. Roll dough to a 10-by-18-inch rectangle. Refrigerate on a baking sheet until firm, about 1 hour (or up to 1 day covered with plastic wrap).

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove plastic wrap from dough. In a small bowl, combine sugar, pecans and salt. Leaving a 1/2-inch border, dot dough with 6 tablespoons butter and sprinkle with sugar mixture. Starting at a long end, roll up dough like a jelly roll. Cut crosswise into 12 pieces. Place each piece, cut side down, into two buttered jumbo muffin pans or a buttered 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

3. Bake until golden brown and cooked through, about 30 to 40 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Immediately invert buns onto a serving platter or baking sheet. Serve warm.

Note: This recipe works well with store-bought dough, but it's exceptional with homemade.

Chicken Caesar Club Sandwich

I have been eyeing this recipe for months.  I've heard rave reviews from friends.  So I finally got on board and made Ina Garten's Caesar club sandwiches for our Sunday dinner.

To save time I purchased a whole roasted chicken and cut up the two breasts (I'll use remaining chicken for lunch tomorrow when my mom is over).  Not only does this dramatically reduce prep time, it also allows you to make more sandwiches as we had a lot of the Caesar dressing left over.

This recipes says it makes 3 sandwiches.  I'd say more like 4-5 depending on how big you make 'em.  We (husband, mom, and Blake) all agreed this recipe gets two thumbs up and will definitely be put on our rotation of favorites for lunch or dinner.

In addition, you could use bacon instead of pancetta if you want a stronger flavor or already have some at home.

Chicken Caesar Club Sandwich, Ina Garten

2 split (1 whole) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on (I used 2 precooked chicken breasts)
Good olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces thinly sliced pancetta
1 large garlic clove, chopped
2 Tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 tsp anchovy paste
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 c. good mayonnaise
1 large ciabatta bread
2 ounces baby arugula, washed and spun dry
12 sun-dried tomatoes, in oil
2 to 3 ounces Parmesan, shaved

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan skin side up. Rub the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until cooked through. Cool slightly, discard the skin and bones, and slice the meat thickly. Set aside.

Meanwhile, place the pancetta on another sheet pan in a single layer. Roast for 10 to 15 minutes, until crisp. Set aside to drain on paper towels.

Place the garlic and parsley in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until minced. Add the anchovy paste, mustard, lemon juice, and mayonnaise and process again to make a smooth dressing. (Refrigerate the Caesar dressing if not using it immediately.)

Slice the ciabatta in half horizontally and separate the top from the bottom. Toast the bread in the oven, cut side up, for 5 to 7 minutes; cool slightly. Spread the cut sides of each piece with the Caesar dressing. Place half the arugula on the bottom piece of bread and then layer in order: the sun-dried tomatoes, shaved Parmesan, crispy pancetta, and sliced chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and finish with another layer of arugula. Place the top slice of ciabatta on top and cut in thirds crosswise. Serve at room temperature.

Pasta with Goat Cheese and Roasted Asparagus

Pasta with goat cheese?  I couldn't resist trying out this recipe.  Very few steps (a la Martha Stewart's Everyday Food) and pairs well with salmon or bbq'd chicken.  Very good for a night when you don't have a lot of time and are craving some chevre!

Pasta with Goat Cheese and Roasted Asparagus, Martha Stewart/Everyday Food

Serves 4

2 bunches asparagus (2 lbs total), tough ends removed

4 Tbsp butter, cut into small pieces

12 ounces cavatappi or other short pasta

1 small log soft goat cheese (5 ounces), crumbled

2 to 3 Tbsp snipped fresh chives, for garnish

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for pasta. Place asparagus on a large rimmed baking sheet; dot with 1 tablespoon butter, and season with salt and pepper. Roast until tender, tossing occasionally, 10 to 15 minutes; cut into 2-inch lengths.

While asparagus is roasting, generously salt boiling water. Add pasta, and cook until al dente, according to package instructions. Set aside 1 1/2 cups pasta water; drain pasta and return to pot.

In a medium bowl, combine goat cheese, remaining 3 tablespoons butter, and 1/2 cup pasta water. Season with salt and pepper, and whisk until smooth. Add goat-cheese mixture and asparagus to pasta; toss to combine, adding more pasta water if necessary for sauce to coat pasta. Serve pasta garnished with chives.

Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin

We loaded up on pork tenderloins at Costco, so I've been searching for yummy recipes.  Tonight we tried Paula Deen's Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin.  Very fast and easy rub and then let roast in the oven.

Highly recommend if you're short on prep time!

Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin, Paula Deen
1 (4-pound) boneless pork loin, with fat left on
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried thyme or 2 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp dried basil or 2 tsp fresh basil leaves
1 tsp dried rosemary or 2 tsp minced fresh rosemary

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.  Place the pork loin on a rack in a roasting pan. Combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. With your fingers, massage the mixture onto the pork loin, covering all of the meat and fat.

Roast the pork for 30 minutes, then reduce the heat to 425 degrees F and roast for an additional hour. Test for doneness using an instant-read thermometer. When the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees F, remove the roast from the oven. Allow it to sit for about 20 minutes before carving. It will continue to cook while it rests.

Molly Moon's Goes Mobile!

Watch out Bellevue-ites, you are in for a serious treat.  An amazing ice cream treat!  Molly Moon's Ice Cream has announced their latest addition - an ice cream truck!  This truck will cruise around the area and will be stationed at the Thursday Bellevue Farmer's Markets starting tomorrow.

Molly Moon's is coming out with an iPhone app this summer so you can track where the truck is and receive alerts if the truck enters your zip code!  Too bad I don't have an iPhone.  So if you're like me, you can go to their website and view their real time map of where the truck is! http://www.mollymoonicecream.com/truck

Click HERE if you want to read the article.

Bacon? Yes please!

I finally bit the bullet.  I've been walking past Bacon Salt for weeks.  I've heard rave reviews and finally had to give in to the curiousity.  I give two thumbs up... sprinkle a little on chicken breasts before grilling and it adds a nice flavor.  Sprinkle a bit on a steak for more depth.  Yup, I'm a fan!