Corn chowder

Fall is in the air and I have been busily making (or at least thinking about) all of the different soups I'm planning to make. We made lentil again last week and it was gobbled up.

I had some frozen roasted corn sitting in the freezer that I had from a party this summer and decided to make a corn chowder from it.

Here's my recipe for the chowder, it can easily be made vegetarian by omitting the proscuitto, but it adds a nice smoky flavor.

8 oz. package diced proscuitto
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 finely diced onion ( I used my vidalia chop wizard)
3 C. roasted corn kernels (Trader Joe's sells a bag of roasted corn kernels that are good)
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
2 C. milk ( I use non-fat)
1 C. water
2 tbs. Better than Bouillon
3 Yukon gold potatoes, finely diced ( I used my vidalia chop wizard)
kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 C. leftover roasted cauliflower ( I threw this in because it was in the fridge, completely optional!)
Other options- add in 1 C. cooked quinoa, 1 C. fresh lump crab meat, 1 C. diced red pepper

Saute proscuitto in butter for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in diced onion and continue cooking for 2 more minutes. Add in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and let cook for 30 minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper, and using a hand mixer, puree soup until mostly smooth. I like a little body in the soup.

Cover and continue cooking on low or serve.

Kibbe a.k.a Lebanese lamb meatballs

I grew up eating kibbe as my grandmother is Lebanese. I hadn't made them by myself, well ever, and decided it was time. I saw a good looking recipe in Cooking Light Magazine and decided to tweek it and make it a little easier.

Here's my recipe for delicious and (fairly) easy Kibbe.

1 lb. each-ground lean beef and lamb
1/2 lb. bulghur cracked wheat, uncooked
1 teaspoon salt
2 cubes frozen parsley
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts (optional)
vegetable oil for frying

Preparation:

In a medium bowl, soak wheat for 30 minutes in cold water. Remove and drain. Remove excess water by squeezing through thick paper towel or cheesecloth. Place into medium bowl and combine with meat, onion, parsley, salt, allspice, pepper and cumin.

Combine well and place small amount in food processor until doughlike consistency. Refrigerate covered mixture for 30 minutes. Add in pine nuts (optional before forming into balls).

Take an egg sized amount of mixture and form into a football shaped ball.

Fry in 350 degree oil on stove top for about 8 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Makes 25 medium sized kibbeh.

We ate these with Tzatziki and some sliced tomatoes drizzled with olive oil and a little kosher salt, and the kids ate them with katsup. They also freeze well.

Chicken cacciatore

Although summer is still here, the smell of fall is in the air. This makes me very happy because I love the cool sunny days, I also love making foods that warm our home with their delicious scents.

Here is my recipe for chicken cacciatore.

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup all purpose flour, for dredging
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 C. quartered button or baby bells mushrooms
3 cubes frozen garlic
3/4 cup white wine
1 ( 28-ounce) can Italian seasoned diced tomatoes with juice
1 cup chicken broth
3 tablespoons drained capers
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
5-6 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly torn

Directions:
Combine flour, salt, pepper and oregano in a pie plate. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour mixture to coat.

In a large heavy saute pan, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the chicken pieces to the pan and saute just until brown, about 5 minutes per side. If all the chicken does not fit in the pan, saute it in 2 batches.

Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside. Add the bell pepper, onion , mushrooms and garlic to the same pan and saute over medium heat until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the wine, tomatoes with their juice, broth, and capers. Return the chicken pieces to the pan and turn them to coat in the sauce.

Serve over rice, couscous or pasta.

Bring the sauce to a simmer. Cover and continue simmering over medium-low heat until the chicken is cooked about 30 minutes.

Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a platter. If necessary, boil the sauce until it thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Spoon off any excess fat from atop the sauce. Spoon the sauce over the chicken, then sprinkle with the basil and serve.

Back to School Dinner- lentil soup with turkey

The kids start the new school year tomorrow, and I don't know who's more excited!

The weather is definitely feeling fall-like so I decided to make lentil soup.

It's an easy soup to make, but takes at least a couple hours to cook. This soup can certainly be made vegetarian by omitting the smoked turkey wings. We use our Vidalia Chop Wizard to cut all of the vegetables. It takes no time and cuts everything so evenly, the kids love to help chop too.

1 whole onion diced
2 cubes frozen garlic
2 tbs. olive oil
1 C. shredded or finely diced carrots
1 C. finely diced celery
1 finely diced potato
2 smoked (or regular) turkey wings
1C. finely diced mushrooms
10 oz. petit diced canned tomatoes
1 1/2 C. uncooked lentils
7 c. chicken stock
2 bay leaves
1 Tbs. kosher salt
1 Tbs. celery salt (or the smoked fleur de sel from Whole Foods)
1 Tsp. ground black pepper
1 Parmesan rind

In a large soup pot on high heat, add onion, garlic and olive oil. Saute for 1 minute until garlic begins to melt. Add carrots, celery and potato and stir to combine. Add the turkey wings, mushrooms and tomatoes with their juices and stir again to combine. Next add in lentils, chicken stock, bay leaves, salt and black pepper. Stock should cover all of the ingredients. Add more or less stock as needed.

Cover and let cook for 1 hour on medium heat. The soup should be softly boiling. After 1 hour, add in Parmesan rind and cook for at least 1 more hour, stirring occasionally.

Before serving, remove turkey meat from the bones and add back into the soup. Be sure to remove the bay leaves before serving.

We all enjoyed the soup with a few slices of fresh baguette and a plate of sliced melon.

Give it a try, you wont' be disappointed!

Greek Chicken and olive tapenade pizzas

As the long days of summer dwindle to an end, we are spending these last few days having friends over for leisurely dinners.

Tonight I grilled some boneless, skinless chicken thighs that I marinated for a few hours in the juice from 1 lemon, 3 Tbs. of olive oil, a large pinch of kosher salt and pepper and 1 tsp. of dried oregano. I grilled it on a very hot grill for 4 minutes per side, then removed from the heat, wrapped in aluminum foil and continued cooking in a 450 degree oven for another 5 minutes. This always produces very tender and juicy chicken.

We had some steamed broccoli, and a fresh spinach salad with feta cheese, dried cherries and cherry tomatoes from the garden.

I also made a tiny pizza using olive tapenade (Trader Joe's makes a great one), a few spoonfuls of tomato sauce, a few more teaspoons of the feta cheese and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

These baked in the oven at 450 for 8 minutes while the chicken cooked. I sliced the pizza into little bite-sized pieces.

The dinner was easy, healthy and a great way to enjoy the last days of summer with friends.

Asian grilled pork tenderloin sandwiches

We ate dinner at a friend's house the other night and she made us the most delicious sandwich for dinner. I asked her for the recipe and after a little tweeking wanted to share this recipe. The bread is warm an crusty, the pork is very flavorful and the cabbage salad is crunchy and tangy, the perfect combination for a meal.

Marinade for pork:
1 C. hoisin sauce
1 Tbs. sambal olek (this is spicy, so go easy if it's for the kids)
2 cubes frozen garlic
2 cubes frozen ginger
1/2 C. red wine
1 C. sliced scallions
2 1-lb. pork tenderloins
2 tbs. peanut oil
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a Ziploc bag and marinade at least 3 hours or overnight.

To cook: Heat grill to high heat. Remove tenderloins from marinade and grill for 6 minutes per side.

While the pork grills, assemble napa cabbage salad:

2 Tbs. nam pla (fish sauce)
1/4 C. rice wine vinegar
1/4 C. of each: chopped basil, cilantro and mint leaves
1 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. soy sauce
2 C. shredded napa slaw (in a pinch, romaine lettuce can be used too)
1 C. shredded carrots

Combine first 5 ingredients. Mix cabbage and carrots together, and dress salad before serving.

Once pork is grilled, remove from heat and tent with foil on a plate for 5 minutes before slicing. Warm crusty rolls in the oven for 3 minutes and slice open. Thinly slice tenderloin and add few slices to one half of the roll, add a heaping spoonful of napa cabbage salad to the other side of the roll, close and enjoy!

Teriyaki grilled top round London broil

There was a special at my favorite super market this week for a type of steak I've never eaten before. I decided to buy first and ask questions later. The cut was a top round London broil; when I returned home and Googled this cut of meat, I was nervous because recipes were calling it a tough cut. I finally found a way to cook it and more importantly slice it that would ensure a nice meal.

I marinated the steak in a bottle of Hoison Garlic Soy Vay sauce for a couple of hours in a Ziplock bag. When we were ready to eat, I let the steaks sit out for about 20 minutes while I heated the grill to high. I also preheated the oven to 450, and lined a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. I grilled each steak for about 5 minutes per side then removed the steaks, placed them on the cookie sheet, covered the steaks with aluminum foil and cooked in the oven for another 5 minutes.

Here's the important part, uncover the steaks and let them rest for a few minutes. Thinly slice the steaks on the diagonal, (otherwise you'll have a tough steak!) which means to cut it in the opposite direction of the way the lines on the steak run.

The steak was tender and very, very flavorful.

Don't be afraid to try new cuts of steak, it's a great way to expand your repertoire.