I have been an artist and designer all my life incorporating graphic design for websites, gardens, publications, fabrics, interior design and cooking. I am now retired from my professional job, but still create artistic visions in all forms on a daily basis.
View all posts by LynnHoll →
When the first farm-fresh cobs of corn are ready in early summer, we all can’t wait to start chomping down on those flavorful kernels. By August, we’re ready for a fresh approach to corn on the cob. Over the years, we’ve made many a sautéed corn recipe, noting this Creole version from Cook’s Country would be a great side dish for an upcoming BBQ for eight. Since the original is intended for four guests, we doubled the amounts.
For deep, porky flavor in every bite, it starts with bacon. Aromatics are added, then sprinkled with the reserved bacon over the final dish for texture and additional smoky flavor. Instead of sautéing the bell peppers (I used a red and a green since the recipe was doubled) and garlic with onions, scallions are used for their lightness and are better suited to summer.
Lightly browning the corn kernels lends a pleasant, nutty quality to the Creole Corn Sauté. To meld the dish, extract pulp and milk from corn cobs with the back of a chef’s knife down the stripped cobs and collect the juices, then added the corn pulp to the skillet with the kernels. This way the sautéed corn gets creamy, and the individual ingredients come together as a unified dish.
5 scallions, white parts chopped fine, green parts sliced thin
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped fine
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp. minced fresh thyme
1 tsp. hot sauce, Tabasco brand preferred
Salt and pepper
Directions
Cut kernels from cobs over large bowl and scrape remaining pulp into bowl with kernels. Set aside.
Cook bacon in large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, about 5 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel-lined plate. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet.
Cook scallion whites and bell pepper in bacon fat until just softened, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add corn and corn pulp to skillet and cook until lightly browned, at least 3 minutes, probably longer. Off heat, stir in scallion greens, parsley, thyme, hot sauce, and bacon. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.
Kick your weeknight dinner up a notch with this simple version of coca, a type of Spanish flatbread. Coca is open-faced like pizza (without cheese) and can be savory, sweet or plain. In Catalan, its place of origin, a coca is a gathering of leftovers or whatever vegetables might be in season (coca derives from the Dutch word kok, for cake). For that reason, this dish isn’t so much a recipe as it is a broad template.
For ease, use store-bought refrigerated pizza dough, put it into a rimmed baking sheet and top it with roasted peppers, marinated artichokes and capers before sliding it into the oven. As the crowning touch, slices of prosciutto are draped on after the flatbread comes out of the oven. If you’re able to find Spanish dry-cured ham, such as serrano or Ibérico, feel free to use it instead. Voila, a fun dinner in no time!
A pizza wheel cutter makes it a cinch to slice up!
A few notes about the ingredients. Our crust was a European-style pizza dough that was already rectangular in shape making it a cinch to spread onto the rimmed baking sheet. Each package was 14.1 ounces, so I used two, one on top of the other, which ended up being over 4 ounces more than called for.
FYI—Don’t use cold dough, as it will be more resistant to stretching and shaping than room-temperature dough; it also bakes up denser. Remove it from the refrigerator 30 to 60 minutes in advance, depending on the ambient temperature of your kitchen. Also, to prevent sticking, make sure to coat the baking sheet with cooking spray before placing the dough on top.
If you have the chance, get the Trader Joe’s brand of marinated artichoke hearts, they’re the best! For the roasted red peppers, we used a jar of Spanish-style grilled Piquillo peppers. And the amount of prosciutto was increased to four ounces. (I would have chosen Serrano ham if the store had been carrying it at the time.) The sweetness of roasted peppers is balanced by the brininess of jarred artichokes and capers. A sprinkling of fresh thyme offers herbal notes, while sliced prosciutto adds depth and savoriness.
Spanish-Style Flatbread with Roasted Peppers, Artichokes and Prosciutto
1 12-oz. jar roasted red peppers, drained, patted dry and roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
1 cup drained marinated artichoke hearts, roughly chopped
2 medium garlic cloves, finely grated
1/4 cup drained capers, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp. fresh thyme, chopped
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more to serve
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 1/2 lbs. store-bought refrigerated pizza dough, room temperature
5 thin slices prosciutto (about 2½ oz.)
1/3 cup lightly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Directions
Heat the oven to 500°F with a rack in the lower-middle position. Mist a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, toss together the red peppers, artichokes, garlic, capers, thyme, 1 tablespoon of oil, ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper; set aside.
Set the dough in the center of the prepared baking sheet, then press and stretch it until it covers the pan and is of an even thickness. Press from the center outward and lift and stretch the edges as needed; it’s fine if the dough doesn’t completely fill the corners. If the dough is resistant or shrinks after stretching, wait 5 to 10 minutes before trying again; if it is very elastic, you may need to give it 2 or 3 rests.
When the dough fills the baking sheet, brush it with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Evenly distribute the red pepper mixture over the top, leaving a narrow border around the edge, then gently press the toppings into the dough. Bake until the edges of the dough are well-browned, 12 to 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and slide the flatbread out of the baking sheet and onto a wire rack. Tear the prosciutto into narrow ribbons and drape over the top. Cool for 5 minutes.
Transfer to a cutting board. Sprinkle with the parsley, then cut into pieces. Serve drizzled with additional oil.
It’s likely you’ll have the ingredients for the wet spice rub already in your pantry. Among them would be paprika, which lends a fiery red-orange color, not to mention a sweet and slightly fruity taste with very mild heat.
While this approach uses one thick pork chop, you could use two thinner chops (I wouldn’t go less than one-inch thick); just be sure to keep a close eyeball on the temperature because they will get done much sooner.
Well, as luck would have it, tornadoes were in the area with two actually touching down only miles from our house. Just as The Hubs took the chop off the grill pan to let it rest, we were instructed to take cover immediately, so we spent about 15 minutes down the basement before getting the all clear—but at least the meat got to rest!
We served our pork with a side of Avocado Cucumber Salad and a few Truffled Pasta Purses.
As you can decipher from the stormy weather, we were not able to use our outside grill, so we took the next best option and that would be “Grilliam” our cast-iron grill pan. It works basically on the same principal as a gas grill, with grate marks and all!
1 1-3⁄4″ to 2″ (about 1.5 lbs.) boneless pork chops
Directions
In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, salt, and pepper until a thick paste forms.
Coat both sides of the pork chop in the paste and set it aside on a plate, or in a ziploc bag, to marinate while you warm up the grill—or for up to 8 hours in the refrigerator.
Preheat your grill to medium-high.
Grill your pork chop for 10-12 minutes per side with lid down, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees (test with an instant-read thermometer). After removing from the grill, let rest on a moated cutting board for 5 minutes tented with foil.
Slice against the grain in 1⁄2-inch slices, arrange on a platter and pour over any accumulated juices.
Baked Stuffed Eggplant with Italian Sausage is described by Food & Wine as over-the-top stuffed dreamboats. Well “dreamboats” may be a stretch, but they were very good indeed! Ripe tomatoes and roasted eggplant come together to yield a hearty filling, made even better with the addition of Italian sausage (sweet or hot, your choice). Combined with a bright and lemony breadcrumb topping and a quick-fix tomato sauce jazzed up with fresh herbs, this makes a stunning summer main dish.
OK, first glance at the list of ingredients and I hear a few of you sigh an audible groan. But please don’t despair, yes the process is a bit time-consuming, but so worth it! Just be sure you have enough time on hand. It’s rare that we ever follow a recipe exactly due to inability obtain the needed ingredients, or because the amounts of some of those ingredients just don’t seem adequate.
For example, the smallest eggplants I could get were 10 ounces each, while the recipe called for smaller ones. Then, the original amount of sausage was only a 1/4 pound—barely a tablespoon per serving, so we doubled the amount to a 1/2 pound. Finally, the marinara sauce at only 8 ounces again seemed inadequate, so a 14-ounce jar was our choice; in which case the fresh herbs were increased to counterbalance the adjustments.
When it came time to cooking the eggplant and onion, I increased those cooking times because as noted at only 2 or 3 minutes, the veggies weren’t as far along as they should have been. All of our changes are noted below.
It’s important to get eggplants that are all the same size. Here, at 10 ounces each, they were bigger than the recipe called for so we made some adjustments.
8 oz. feta cheese, crumbled (about 2 cups), plus more for garnish
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano, divided
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint, divided
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
14 oz. jarred marinara sauce
Directions
Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium. Add breadcrumbs, and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in lemon zest and 1/4 teaspoon salt; set aside.
Cut eggplants in half lengthwise. Scoop out pulp, leaving a 1/4-inch shell. Chop pulp into 1/2-inch thick cubes. Sprinkle eggplant shells with 1 teaspoon salt, and invert onto a clean, dry towel. Let stand 30 minutes to drain.
Preheat broiler to high with oven rack 5 to 6 inches from heat. Pat eggplant shells dry, and brush with 1 tablespoon oil. Place eggplant shells, cut side up, on a baking sheet, and broil just until tender, about 5 minutes. (I did this in two lots, 3 at a time.)
Remove from oven, and reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Place in a single layer in a 10- x 14-inch baking dish.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add sausage, and cook, stirring often with a wooden spoon to break up large pieces, until sausage is browned, 7 to 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer sausage to a large bowl. Reserve drippings in skillet.
Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in skillet over medium-high. Cook reserved eggplant cubes in hot oil, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 5 to 6 minutes.
Add onion, and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Add tomatoes, garlic, pepper, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 2 to 3 minutes.
Transfer tomato mixture to the large bowl with sausage. Add feta, 1/2 cup breadcrumb mixture, egg, 2 tablespoons oregano, 2 tablespoons mint, 2 tablespoons parsley, and vinegar; toss until combined. Divide mixture evenly among eggplant shells. Top evenly with remaining breadcrumb mixture, and place stuffed eggplants in oven. Bake at 375°F until filling is golden and bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes. (Because our eggplant were larger, I cooked them for 40 minutes.)
Meanwhile, stir together marinara sauce, remaining 1 tablespoon of the oregano, mint, and parsley in a small saucepan. Heat over low just until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Drizzle over baked stuffed eggplant just before serving. Sprinkle with remaining sauce and additional feta, if desired.
These babies are lickety-split fast, extremely simple, and so freakin’ yummy! In fact, keep this marinade in mind for poultry as well. You may decide to try other herbs in place of the basil, like oregano, tarragon or chives; or also give them a sprinkle of fresh herbs at the end.
It was the perfect appetizer to bring for a small dinner party at our friends, Mr. and Mrs, Z. The evening could not have been lovelier as we were sitting outside sipping some wine and marveling at the well-manicured gardens. We transported the soaked wooden skewers, marinating shrimp and a sprig of basil leaves along with the perfect sized platter. All that needed to be done when the four of us were ready for a nosh, was to preheat the grill and thread the 20 shrimp onto the skewers—evenly distributed at 5 apiece.
Within minutes on the grill, the shrimp were done and the feast could begin… Speaking of feast, I have to give a shout out to our hosts for the fantastic meal! Mrs. Z. made a leg of lamb that was to die for, accompanied by a tasty potato salad, an incredible watermelon and arugula salad, asparagus, green bean and tomato salad, and a wonderful summery dessert of nectarines over blueberry compote topped with vanilla ice cream all artfully presented in parfait glasses. A dinner to remember for sure…
But I digress, back to the original post which is the featured shrimp kebabs…
1 lb. peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp, tails left on
Directions
Gather the ingredients.
Soak four 12-inch wooden skewers in water to cover for at least 30 minutes.
In a small bowl, mix together the orange juice, lemon or lime juice, orange zest, garlic, olive oil, basil, and salt and pepper until well blended.
Add the shrimp and mixture to a large ziploc bag, seal and mush around to coat. Let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, or refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.
Preheat the broiler or grill. Skewer the shrimp, dividing them evenly between the skewers. Discard any remaining marinade. Broil or grill for about 4-6 minutes total, turning once as they brown, until they are just cooked throughout.
A super-easy and healthy side dish to go with your grilled entrée. According to The Endless Meal where I found this recipe “Everything works about this salad: the crunchy but slightly softened cucumbers, the creamy avocados, the earthy cilantro, and the hint of spice that tingles your tongue.”
Making this cucumber and avocado salad requires maceration. The basis of which is tossing the cucumbers in a little salt and sugar then letting them sit at room temperature while some of the juice is drawn out. The process softens the cucumber just a little and makes a sort of dressing for the salad.
NOTE: You can prepare it ahead of time by combining the cucumbers and spices in the bag but NOT sprinkling the salt and sugar over. Place the bag in the fridge for up to 8 hours. When you are ready, take the bag out of the fridge, add the salt and sugar, let it sit for a half hour then continue with the rest of the preparation.
Yes, it is a “green salad” but quite different from what most of us picture because there is no lettuce at all! The recipe calls for a red Thai chili, but in lieu of that we used a green serrano making it even “greener”. The flavors and textures paired wonderfully with our grilled pork chop, but the salad does not store well after the initial meal, so eat it up! (That is why we cut the recipe in half for the two of us—with just a tad remaining.)
Place the ginger, cucumbers, sea salt, sugar, garlic, and red chili in a large, resealable plastic bag. Squish the bag around a little so that everything is mixed together. Set the bag aside on your counter for a half hour.
Pour everything from the bag into a salad bowl. Add the celery, oil, and lime juice and toss well. Season to taste with sea salt. Add the diced avocados, basil, and cilantro and gently toss once more.
You’ll enjoy this unusual stir-fry combination utilizing fresh corn kernels cut from the cob. The corn, along with rice, does lean toward a carb-heavy meal, but it is so satisfying and full of flavor. Coating the chicken pieces in cornstarch thickens the sauce at the end so that it clings to the meat and veggies.
Rarely overpowering, oyster sauce is packed with umami and adds tons of depth to stir-fries like this one, boosting flavor in marinades, and just being all-around incredibly delicious. No ripe corn at the market? Bon Appétit suggests to swap in peppers, peas, mushrooms, or summer squash.
As with any stir-fry, make sure to chop and prep all of the ingredients ahead of time because once you start cooking, the process goes incredibly fast and you need to keep swinging that metal spatula around.
½ tsp. (or more) Aleppo-style pepper or other mild chile flakes
3 ears of corn, kernels cut from cobs
Steamed rice and cilantro leaves with tender stems (for serving)
Directions
Stir together oyster sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and 2 Tbsp. water in a small bowl. Set aside.
Place chicken in a medium bowl. Season with salt and sprinkle with cornstarch; toss lightly to coat.
Heat 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil in a large well-seasoned wok or nonstick skillet over medium-high. Cook chicken, tossing occasionally, until golden brown and nearly cooked through, 6–8 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.
To the wok, add red onion, garlic, ginger, Aleppo-style pepper, and remaining 2 Tbsp. oil. Cook, tossing, until vegetables are softened, about 2 minutes.
Add corn and cook, tossing often, until tender, about 3 minutes.
Return chicken to wok with vegetables.
Stir in reserved oyster sauce mixture and cook, tossing often, until reduced nearly to a glaze, about 2 minutes. Taste and season with salt if needed.
WOW, what a refreshing and surprising fish dish from Bon Appétit! This nod to scallion-ginger sauce uses both butter and olive oil, giving extra richness to lean whitefish. A dusting of cornstarch, which I added using a sifter for uniformity, imparts that restaurant-style golden crisp.
Our cod was paired with tri-colored couscous and fresh green beans, both of which made happy with the scallion-butter sauce. Seeing as how olive oil is an integral ingredient, use a high-end EVOO, you’ll definitely taste the difference. It seems almost too simple with the short list of common ingredients to end up so tasty!
Pat fish dry with paper towels; season with salt. Sprinkle one side with an even layer of cornstarch; brush off excess.
Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Lay fish, cornstarch side down, in skillet and cook, shaking pan occasionally, until golden, crisp, and opaque around the edges, 6–8 minutes. Turn fish over and cook just until fillets are cooked through and flake easily with a fork, 1–2 minutes.
Meanwhile, place scallions in a medium heatproof bowl. Combine butter, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and remaining 4 Tbsp. olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook until butter begins to foam and garlic turns light golden, about 4 minutes.
Pour over scallions, stirring to wilt. Let cool 1 minute, then season with salt.
Serve fish with scallion-sesame butter spooned over.
Growing up, I distinctly remember my mom making grilled shoulder lamb chops, and even though I was a very picky eater, I loved those chops. Fast forward many decades and I am a fan of just about any type of lamb, yet the shoulder chops don’t seem to be as common anymore (at least where we live). So when I spotted them at Costco recently, I knew they had to find their way into the grocery basket.
They tend to be less pricey than many other lamb options—a plus in most people’s thinking. And this recipe can’t be any simpler. With a few common ingredients , and precious little cooking time, you’ll be wanting to add these babies to your regular rotation. Even though you can marinate them in a s little as 30 minutes, I highly suggest you do so for at least 8 hours, and up to overnight.
Our three steaks were a bit thinner than the suggested 3/4″ so they took only a total of 4 1/2 minutes to reach medium-rare, just how we like them, and in no time at all! Use an instant-read thermometer after 4 minutes to get an idea of the internal temp. We barely had time to cook the accompanying fresh green beans and corn on the cob while the lamb rested.
Grilled Shoulder Lamb Chops with Garlic-Rosemary Marinade
1 Tbsp. roasted garlic paste, or 2 large cloves minced
1 Tbsp. minced fresh rosemary
1 pinch cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp. olive oil
LAMB
4 shoulder lamb chops, about 3/4 inch thick (blade or round bone)
Salt & fresh ground pepper
Directions
Mix marinade ingredients in small bowl. Rub both sides of each chop with the paste; add to an air-tight ziploc bag for at least 30 minutes. (Can be refrigerated overnight.)
Turn all burners on gas grill to high, close lid, and heat until grill is very hot, about 15 minutes. Leave one burner on high and turn other burner(s) down to medium.
Rub grill grates with oil. Sprinkle lamb with salt and pepper to taste.
Grill chops, covered, over hotter part of grill, turning them once, until well browned, about 4 minutes. Move chops to cooler part of grill and continue grilling, turning once, to desired doneness, about 6 minutes for rare (about 120 degrees on instant-read thermometer), about 8 minutes for medium (about 130 degrees), or about 10 minutes for well-done (140 to 150 degrees).
Remove chops from grill and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve immediately.
The love affair begins with the dressing, which is the key to adding unforgettable flavor. Just like a romance, it is sweet, spicy, tangy—with a jolt of garlic thrown in. Although I had to laugh at the notion that this Honey Garlic Shrimp, Corn, and Avocado Bacon Salad recipe from Half-Baked Harvest was supposed to feed six. Including daughter Julia who was in for a visit, the three of us polished it off entirely—yes, it was THAT good!
While there is not much cooking, you do need to char the ears of corn, crisp the bacon and sear the shrimp. Afterward, it comes together in minutes. Honey garlic seared shrimp cooked together with the bacon drippings is then tossed up in a fresh salad of romaine, grilled corn, salty feta, and creamy avocado. The herby dressing is so deliciously flavorful and pulls it altogether. You will be pining for more 💜…
To simplify things on dinner night, pre-prep by making the crispy bacon pieces and charred corn ahead of time, let cool, and store until ready to use.
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled (don’t buy the pre-crumbled variety)
Directions
To make the dressing. Combine all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.
In another bowl, toss the shrimp with 1/3 of the dressing. Let sit 10 minutes.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan. Roughly chop when cooled.
Add the shrimp to the hot bacon fat and cook on both sides until seared, about 2 minutes per side. Remove from the heat. You will need to do this in two batches.
To make the salad, combine the greens, corn, and tomatoes in a salad bowl and toss with a little dressing. Add the shrimp, bacon, and avocados. Spoon the dressing overtop. Top with feta. Season with freshly cracked pepper and salt. Serve warm or cold.
This pesto chicken recipe takes a three-pronged approach, compliments of Cook’s Country. Starting with a batch of homemade pesto, a portion is thickened with extra Parmesan cheese to make a stuffing for the bone-in, skin-on breasts. A cheese-less portion of the pesto functions as a marinade, flavoring the outside of the meat. Finally, cheesy pesto, thinned out to sauce consistency, is served with the chicken for one final hit of fresh basil flavor.
I am a white meat fan when it comes to chicken, while The Hubs prefers the dark meat which he believes to be juicier. While I can’t always argue with that logic, I do know that with the skin and bones of the breast pieces intact, the more succulent the meat will be.
Our poultry breasts weighed in at 15 ounces or so, a bit more than the 12-ounce pieces listed in the ingredients. In fact, one of them was larger than the other three and actually took an additional 7 minutes to come to temperature, so keep a close eyeball on the internal temps with an instant-read thermometer, especially if they are varying sizes.
Brimming with fresh basil, this recipe was a perfect opportunity to cut it back mid-season from our herb garden, encouraging robustness for the remainder of the season. And while the directions indicate to marinate the breasts in the pesto sauce in a bowl for one hour, I let them get happy in a large glass baking dish for three hours in the refrigerator wrapped tightly with saran wrap.
Results? The Hubs LOVED them! That’s big praise coming from a guy who steadfastly prefers the dark meat of the thighs and legs. He couldn’t believe how moist the white meat remained and how flavorful the overall pesto approach was. “Let’s make this for company” he sang, and I thought yes, let’s!
Note: that the pesto base is divided into three separate mixtures for marinating, stuffing, and saucing the grilled chicken.
Process basil, ½ cup oil, garlic, lemon juice, and ¾ teaspoon salt in food processor until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down bowl as needed. Remove ¼ cup pesto from processor and reserve for marinating chicken.
Add Parmesan to pesto in processor and pulse until incorporated, about 3 pulses. Remove ¼ cup Parmesan pesto from processor and reserve for stuffing chicken.
Add remaining ¼ cup oil to Parmesan pesto in processor and pulse until combined, about 3 pulses; set aside for saucing cooked chicken.
Starting on thick side of breast, closest to breastbone, cut horizontal pocket in each breast, stopping ½ inch from edge so halves remain attached. Season chicken, inside and out, with salt and pepper.
Place 1 tablespoon of Parmesan pesto reserved for stuffing in pocket of each breast. Evenly space 2 pieces of kitchen twine (each 12 inches long) beneath each breast and tie to secure breast, trimming any excess twine.
Place stuffed breasts in bowl and add pesto reserved for marinating. Rub pesto all over chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
FOR A CHARCOAL GRILL: Open bottom vent completely. Light large chimney starter filled with charcoal briquettes (6 quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour evenly over half of grill. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent completely. Heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes. FOR A GAS GRILL: Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Turn all burners to medium-low. (Adjust burners as needed to maintain grill temperature of 350 degrees.)
Clean and oil cooking grate. Place chicken, skin side up, on grill (over cool side if using charcoal). Cover and cook until chicken registers 155 degrees, 25 to 35 minutes.
Flip chicken skin side down. If using charcoal, slide chicken to hot part of grill. If using gas, turn all burners to medium-high. (Our grill is very hot, so I only turned up the heat to medium.) Cover and cook until well browned and chicken registers 160 degrees, 5 to 10 minutes.
Transfer chicken to platter, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 5 minutes. Remove twine from chicken and carve meat from bone. Serve, passing Parmesan pesto sauce separately.
BTW, if you are lucky enough to have some leftover breasts, make a chicken pesto salad. When cooled, remove the cooked meat from the skin and bones. Either shred it, or cut it up in small chunks (it will still contain the pesto stuffing).
In a mixing bowl, add the chunked chicken, small diced celery, thinly sliced scallions, mayonnaise and more of the pesto topping. Salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to use. We served ours the next day for lunch over Bibb lettuce and topped with sliced yellow and red bell peppers and more sliced scallions.
Our vegetable garden was brimming with an assortment of aromatic herbs and one of them that exploded recently was the tarragon. We often pair tarragon with chicken but thought perhaps steak might make a good companion for a change.
Never used tarragon? It is a leafy green herb that is highly aromatic with a subtle licorice flavor. It adds a fresh, spring taste and a bit of elegance to a variety of recipes, including salad dressings, sauces, fish, chicken, and in this case, a steak dish. In France, it is referred to as “the king of herbs” because of its ability to elevate a dish, and is one of the four herbs in the French mixture fines herbes, a combination of parsley, tarragon, chervil, and chives.
While the cooking time for this recipe is minimal, you want to make sure you leave ample time to marinate the meat so that it gets all happy in those flavors of mustard, white wine, scallions and of course, tarragon.
From mid- to late-summer we often pair our grilled entrées with fresh picked corn and locally grown tomatoes, and this was no exception. The basil was just plucked from our herb garden for the caprese salad, which is also where the tarragon came from.
1/4 cup mustard (Dijon or grainy Dijon mustard work really well for this)
3 scallions, chopped
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon, plus extra for garnish
Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
Directions
Combine oil, wine, mustard, scallions and chopped tarragon in a zipper plastic bag. Add steak, seal bag and rotate until steak is coated.
Marinate in refrigerator for 2 hours and up to overnight, turning the bag over occasionally.
Heat grill to high. Reserve some marinade for basting, discard the rest. Grill steak for 5 minutes per side for medium rare, 125° on an instant-read thermometer.
Rest steak on a moated carving board under foil for 10 minutes (don’t skip this step) and then thinly slice at an angle and against the grain. Arrange on a platter and drizzle any accumulated juices over meat. Serve at once.
Who remembers attending (or perhaps hosting?) an event that served those horrible-excuse-for-a-turkey-burger—more like hockey pucks as I recall. My mind conjures up patties that were pre-frozen, tasteless and overcooked by the time they made it to a bun. I still shudder at the thought…
Turn those disadvantages into positives by making your own turkey burgers at home. Remember that ground turkey meat is lower in fat than ground beef and because of this you have to keep your eyes balls on them while grilling. Overcooked turkey burgers will be dry and flavorless—exactly what we’re trying to avoid here. Pull the burgers as soon as a thermometer reads 165° and juices run clear. Ours took only 9 minutes total.
In a clever sort of way, this mixture includes your veggies inside as well as on top of the burger. Not necessarily a whole salad’s worth, but with celery, onion, parsley, tomato and lettuce, in the ingredients, you get my drift. (Although we were unfortunately out of Bibb lettuce 😦 )
And don’t forget to make the spicy mayo condiment. Not only does it enhance the turkey burgers, but there’s plenty leftover to dredge your french fries, onion rings or use as a vegetable dip; and is a great spread on sandwiches the next day or two…
Over the course of this blog, I have posted a few other turkey burger recipes. For instance, the Parmesan and Herb Turkey Burgers were moist, pillowy, flavorful patties with a panade that was a hydrating binding mixture of dairy and breadcrumbs. Then there was the THE BEST EVER Turkey Burger! where the key was choosing the right mix-ins and using as little of them as you could get away with.
NOTES: Make the spicy mayo a day ahead to save time on dinner night and for the flavors to meld. The patties can be shaped ahead of time, covered and refrigerated if needed. When forming the patties I find it helpful to keep a small bowl of tepid water nearby so that I can keep my hands moist preventing the turkey mixture from sticking to my fingers.
In a small food processor, grind white bread, transfer to large mixing bowl.
In same food processor, combine celery, onion, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper. Grind until thoroughly mixed.
In mixing bowl with the bread crumbs, add the egg, Worcestershire sauce, and celery/onion mixture. Crumble turkey over mixture and mix well. Shape into four patties.
On a greased grill, cook, covered, over medium heat for 4-5 minutes on each side (9-10 minutes total) or until a thermometer reads 165° and juices run clear. 30-45 seconds before done, add a slice of provolone to each patty, close the lid while the cheese melts.
Optional: Toast your buns on grill at the same time your cheese melts.
Serve on buns smothered with spicy mayo, preferably tops and bottoms. Top with a slice of beef steak tomato and Bibb lettuce, if desired.
The beauty of this marinade recipe is that it is used for both the meat and vegetable skewers. We almost always thread the meat on separate skewers from the vegetables because the cooking times are so drastically different. The veggies will take about 20 minutes, while the beef is done in 5-8 minutes, depending on your preference.
And while you can get away with only marinating the meat for one hour (that’s the time limit for your veggies), the flavor penetrates the beef at a much more satisfying taste if you leave it in a ziploc overnight—or say, at least 8 hours.
If you’re not counting carbs, tri-colored couscous makes a fine dining companion for the skewers of meat and vegetables. Make it with beef bullion instead of water for an even beefier taste!
1 red or yellow bell pepper (or 1/2 of each), cut into 1 1/2″ chunks
1 onion, peeled with root intact, cut into 8 wedges
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1″-thick rounds
12 large button mushrooms, stems removed
MARINADE
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
Sriracha, a few dashes to taste
Directions
Mix all marinade ingredients together in a medium bowl, then divide into two ziploc gallon-sized bags.
Add the chunks of beef to one bag, seal and refrigerate overnight. Reserve the other bagged marinade for the veggies, store in refrigerator until ready to use.
One hour before preheating grill, put cut vegetables into remaining marinade. If using wooden skewers, soak in water for one hour.
Preheat grill to high on all burners.
Thread beef chunks onto 3-4 skewers. Alternate the vegetables on 4 skewers. Place all skewers on a large rimmed baking sheet. Reserve leftover marinade for basting purposes.
Grill the veggie skewers for 15 minutes, turning and basting occasionally with leftover marinade. Leave on grill until meat is done, continuing to baste with marinade.
Now place beef kebabs on grill, turning and basting occasionally. With an instant-read thermometer, check after 4 minutes for doneness. Ours were perfectly medium-rare after only 4 1/2 minutes!
Remove skewers from grill to baking sheet and cover loosely with foil for 5 minutes allowing the juices to redistribute.
The meat can be removed from skewers onto a platter and passed around the table, while each diner gets one skewer of vegetables.
Not one, not two, but three fabulous recipes for lamb chops. The first, Glazed Lamb Chops, is done in a cast iron skillet and came from FineCooking.com by Arlene Jacobs. The second was based on a sauce we used for our fabulous Bistecca with Fishy Herb Sauce. The third is by Giada De Laurentiis which Russ found using the In the Kitchen App, and is meant for a grill pan—although we haven’t gotten around to making this version yet…
Prepare to be bowled over by the first recipe. The Glazed Lamb Chops sauce is an unusual mix of pantry ingredients including Worcestershire sauce, anchovy paste, Angostura bitters, and honey. Totally worth making and not very difficult, this rich glaze provides sweet and tangy flavors and is very rich, savory and complex.
A small pet peeve of mine is when, if water is being used as an ingredient, than please itemize it. I added it to the list below because I accidentally omitted it when making the sauce. This became an issue when reducing the mixture to a thin glaze. Instead of 10 minutes, ours became almost a thick glaze in a minute—the taste was still fabulous however. From now on I plan to list water as an element if the recipe calls for it.
One small time saver is, instead of mashing raw garlic cloves, use garlic paste if you have some on hand. I always keep some homemade roasted garlic paste in the fridge for mashed potatoes or for instances such as this. On another note, we substituted some gorgeous loin chops in place of lamb rib chops. Keep in mind, they are thicker and therefore take longer to cook to a temperature of 130° for medium-rare.
In a small bowl, combine the garlic, Worcestershire sauce, bitters, honey, vinegar, anchovy paste, oregano, and 1/3 cup water.
Pat the lamb chops dry and season lightly with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a heavy-duty (such as cast iron) 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering hot.
Cook the lamb chops, flipping once, until browned and medium rare (130°F), 4 to 6 minutes total per batch. (Lamb loin chops are thicker and will take closer to 6-7 minutes per side.) You may have to cook them in two batches. Transfer to a platter and tent with foil to keep warm.
Pour off the fat from the skillet, add the Worcestershire mixture, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, until the mixture thickens into a light glaze, about 10 minutes.
Return the chops to the pan and cook, turning them to coat with the glaze, about 1 minute more. Serve the chops with any remaining glaze poured over them.
Originally this meal was going to be prepared for two of Russ’ former coworkers, Barb and Lorraine. Let’s just say the “winds of change” blew in and we had to postpone the party by a month. Good things come to those who wait, correct? Check out this link, Bistecca with Fishy Herb Sauce for the recipe.
Marinating sliced heirloom tomatoes in salt, pepper, olive oil, and fresh oregano intensifies their flavor and brings out their rich juices. With the addition of sliced shallot and red wine vinegar, it knocks this side dish out of the park. Be sure to use a high quality EVOO.
Accounting for Taste 