Cherry Grilled Cheese

Grilled Cheese with Cherries

Spice up your summer grilled cheese sandwich with some fresh cherries!  Aside from being rich in antioxidants and beneficial polyphenols and excellent for treatment of the gout or excess buildup of uric acid in the body, these deep red dollops of delicious, are a perfect way to elevate your old fashioned grilled cheese.   

The cheeses I used are Gouda, Sharp Cheddar and American.  They complement the cherries excellently and together they make a cohesive and bright addition to any hot summer's day menu.  While they are in season now, you can find the most flavorful and sweet fruits to make lots of fantastic dishes or add ins at a most reasonable price.  The cherries provide a great texture to match the crispy,buttery outer bread and the ooey gooey center of molten cheese.  Simply slice the cherries in half and remove the  pit.  Add the cherries just as the cheeses start to melt, so they are just warmed slightly and won't give up their juiciness on the bread.  

The larger pieces of cherry make for an awesome mouthful of juicy goodness.  I like to use mayonnaise on the bread for our grilled cheese because it provides impeccable crunchtacity (my word) and a gorgeous golden hue. I also like to use Honey Wheat.  Breads, cheeses and fruit go hand in hand, have some all in one! Grilled Cheese with Cherries, Yes, Please! 

 

 

Royal Chicken

 

I used a whole pineapple as the base and baster for a Cornish hen recipe and it turned out AAHmazing. 

The revised plan involves a pineapple after you have used a pineapple cutting device that cuts out the meat and makes slices in a couple of easy steps.  The marinated hen is then slid down on the core that remains inside the pineapple and open roasted or grilled until done.  The finished product is then removed from the stub and the stub can then be discarded.  The pineapple in the featured photo shows a bird that sits on a pineapple throne, with part of the pineapple flanking the back side.  This promotes the self basting aspect and leaves roasted pineapple to be sliced and served alongside as a side dish.  

I open roasted the Cornish hen in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes.  I then moved it to my smoker and added an elevated, smoky element to the already flavorful protein.  The end result is a tender, moist and absolutely delicious meal for one or light dinner for two.  I used a Kickin' Chicken' rub with a little heat to marinate the chicken, also a bit of liquid aminos, smashed garlic, freshly cracked pepper and a nice glug of olive oil.  I also painted on some of the residual juices with some fresh sage from my herb garden and let those flavors hang out and kiss the bird subtly as it rested.  

I love this dish for several reasons, but most appealing is finding another use for my pineapples when I remove the viable fruit.  The vessel that remains is still full of flavor and juices that can be a perfect cooking add on.  The small tasty bird sits on a throne of golden awesomeness and is fit for a king...or queen, Royal Chicken for the 'commonfolk', Long Live the Queen.

5n@i1 5p@gh3tt1: Spaghetti a la Escargot

Escargot (Snails)

I have wanted to try Escargot for the longest time.  I had so many questions and I finally got the opportunity for some hands on lab. First off, man are they off putting, to say the least, I won't even tell you the words that came to my mind to describe them, nor will I tell you what my family members thought they resembled.  There were four of us willing to give them a try, my sister Bonnie. her husband Jackie, Bronwyn and myself.  I was relieved that they are not slimy in the can.  I can't say I enjoyed the smell at first though.  These were the giant variety and they were about the size of an average sized meatball.  They are quite firm and have good texture, with an almost rubbery undertone.  I made sure that I cooked them gently, afraid of the potentially irreversible consequences of a tough protein such as this.  

Traditionally, Escargot is prepared with a garlic, butter and parsley compound and broiled lightly to melt the delicious aromatics down into the shell, which are to be purchased separately.  I failed to get my order for the shells in before our vacation departure and I figured I would scarcely find them for purchase in any of the supermarkets or shoppes near the lake, so I took them in a different direction.  I wanted to come from this experience with something different and I think I achieved as much with this recipe.  

To counter the almost scary appearance of the Escargot, I halved them, then sliced them into manageable pieces, hoping to capture the appetites of the naysayers.  Next time, I will keep them whole and follow a more traditional route, preparing them in their I guess you would say intended form, for a more genuine experience.  

This recipe is a good introduction to the world of Escargot, a once exclusive dish for the wealthy, now transgressed into a dish to be served on any given weeknight, full of delicious nuances and mystery.

Snails are not just your average exotic food, they also bring with them many nutritional benefits.

They are rich in protein,  substantially so, providing about 18 grams per serving.  The fat in Escargot, albeit small, is mostly polyunsaturated.  Snails boasts essential fatty acids of the good variety, linolenic and linoleic acids, respectively, they lend brain and heart health benefits. There is a wealth of iron, magnesium and calcium, plus copper and phosphorus.   Snails are a good alternative meat as well as a healthy one.  They have vitamins A, B12 and K, where K is mostly found in the veggie department, particularly greens with leaves.  Vitamin B6 and folate also have presence.  If that weren't enough, Escargot has two amino acids that are also present in eggs, lysine and  arginine, both in higher amounts than it's more familar round buddy!  They are sustainable and have a much smaller impact on the environment than other animal proteins.  Just a thought.

Spaghetti a la Escargot

Recipe:

1 7.7 oz. can giant snails, halved and sliced thinly

1 lb. spaghetti, cooked according to instructions in salted water, al dente

1 large ripe tomato, chopped with seeds removed

1 bunch fresh herbs, about 1/2 c. lemon thyme, parsley and sage, rough chopped

6 tbsp. salted Amish Butter 

2 tbsp. Extra Virgin olive oil

1/2 c. chopped yellow onion

6 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced

SPST (Salt and Pepper to Suit Taste)

Olive oil and fresh herbs for garnish

Shredded or Shaved Parmesan Cheese for garnish

Place butter, olive oil, onion and garlic in a large saucepan over low heat and let sweat for about 20 minutes, until soft and fragrant.  

Add Escargots and gently warm through, while pasta cooks.

Once pasta is cooked, drain and transfer to saucepan with butter mixture and turn  up to medium, add tomato and herbs, SPST, tossing until everything is coated and well incorporated.  

Garnish with additional herbs and Parmesan cheese as desired.  

Makes 6 to 10 servings. 

 

Calypso Cranberry and Pecan Shrimp Boats

Calypso Spice Rub Makes these Colossal Shrimp Pop!

Nice cooling salads are right at home this time of year.  With the heat hitting record highs week after week, we are all looking for a quicker and cooler way to get breakfast, lunch and dinner on the table, and at least try to follow the RDA.  I came up with this nutritious and delicious plus versatile salad while on vacation last week in the beautiful Occoneechee State Park.  I knew I wanted a nice bright salad along with our special steak dinner, commemorating our last night of another spectacular getaway, the other 5 nights went by so fast.  

We decided on a nice set of Ribeyes, on sale at the time for a great price via Food Lion, some fresh Romaine, cherry tomatoes and Italian Herbs, as I was in the process of making my first homemade, handmade pasta, after watching a couple of tutorials.  It had been on my mind for some time now and I made a promise to myself that I would execute while on vacation.  I can't wait to share that experience with you too. 

Back to the salads, I had some fantastic Colossal White Shrimp on board, as well as some salad topping with cranberries and candied pecans.  I also picked up some shredded Monterey Jack Cheese with Jalapenos.  I had a Calypso spice rub to try out and therein, the recipe was born.  

The Romaine was large, crisp and fresh with leaves as large as a small long plate, so I decided to build the salad right on it.  With the shrimp marinating since earlier in the day and my Blackstone grill, I was able to make light work of a nice Grilled Shrimp Salad to accompany the steaks, baked potatoes and pasta.  

The meal was a lovely affair, with a couple of simple candles and a bottle of Red, the kiddoes imbibed on some Zero Sugar fruit beverage blend, which was thirst quenching and refreshing.  We celebrated some of my personal achievements that had been forgone because of other obligations. Now, we could toast to those milestones and bright moments and be Thankful and Grateful for our each other and the many everyday blessings, often overlooked.   I could take a moment to be proud, with my loved ones and a good meal, every aspect, prepared by me, a dinner that would have easily cost around $200 including tip for 4 people.  The atmosphere was ambient and every aspect was spot on, like it was meant to be.  

This salad can easily serve as a nice lunch or dinner meal by increasing the amount of shredded Romaine, adding more tomatoes, cucumber and a couple more shrimp.  The added bonus is less dishes to clean afterwards, since you can literally eat the salad 'bowl'!  Don't have large shrimp? No problem, just use what you have on hand and be careful not to overcook them.  

Recipe:

1 large head Romaine lettuce, rinsed and patted dry

1 pint cherry tomatoes

1 medium cucumber

4 oz. shredded Monterey Jack Cheese with Jalapenos

1 pkg. salad topper with Cranberries and Candied Pecans

Colossal Shrimp, shell on, but de-veined, mine came cleaned

Calypso dry rub, 1 tbsp. per pound

Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1 tbsp. per pound

SPST ( Salt and Pepper to Suit Taste)

Olive Oil for drizzling

Dressings of your choice, I used Buttermilk Ranch and Tangy French

Directions:

In a large resealable bag, combine shrimp, spice rub and olive oil.

Marry the flavors and place in fridge until ready to grill. This may be done up to a day ahead for Colossal shrimp.

Tear the larger, best and sturdiest leaves off and trim or break to make the boats for the salads, trimming from the root side, for however many salads you'll need.

Julienne the remaining lettuce, light and dark parts, enough to fill each bowl with about 1/2 to 3/4 c. lettuce per boat.

Trim and peel the off most of the cucumber skin lengthwise, alternating in strips, such that it creates a striped design. Cut the cucumber in 1 to 1 1/2 inch portions and core out seeds using a butter knife or small paring knife. 

Place on paper towels to remove excess moisture, until ready to use. 

Grill the marinated shrimp, flipping once, until done, careful not to overcook, time depends on the 

size of the shrimp, mine took around 4 minutes total on a high griddle. Let rest before peeling. 

To assemble:

Place shredded lettuce on each boat, then nestle a piece of cucumber among the lettuce and top with a cherry tomato, several if you like.

Peel shrimp down to segment before tail, for aesthetic and position on top of lettuce or as desired.

Sprinkle with cranberries and candied pecans.

Sprinkle with scant amount of cheese.

Drizzle with Olive Oil and SPST, as desired.

Serve Dressings on the side.

 

Three Course Meal Celebration Dinner, with Handmade Pasta and Sauce, Casual Plating

Backyard Bounty; Black Raspberries

 Thanks to some resourceful and well traveled little birdies, I have these beautiful little gems in the backyard.  I'd walked past and wondered about them for quite some time, curious, enough to do a bit of research, with fruitful results.  The vines are relatively new to the landscape, and I was walking past them on my way to my small growing station, where some of my Rainbow Chard, Spinach and Brassica microgreens are taking advantage of the morning sun. 

I noted that the berries were very characteristic of what I know to be blackberries, our yard has two types, tasty and fresh, though not enough to 'stick in your eye', as the elders would say, only fit for a nice little bite of sunshine, while stirring around with yard chores, not even a bowlful.  Even still, we do have more blackberry vines on the outskirts of the thicket in our field.  I also have a neighborhood friend that once brought me a gallon bucket full! This was 2 summers ago.  He tells me that it's looking good for another good harvest and is keeping me in mind, fingers crossed.  I'm  already making plans for a delicious Blackberry Cobbler, scones and jam.  

The Black Raspberry looks very much like a blackberry at first glance, but if you pay attention to some of its characteristics, you will see the differences.  Leaf cluster and berry arrangement are two of them.  I found a spectacular article on a site while doing positive identification research that breaks these properties down in a way that really opened my eyes and was very comprehensive as well as informative, just scan this QR code for the full article!  

If you can't scan the code, simply follow this link to discover whether your 'blackberry' vines are actually black raspberries!  Identifythatplant.com .  The author does a fantastic job of helping you identify the treasures that could be hiding in plain sight, in your own backyard or even a walking trail, meadow or nearby field.  Organic Raspberries fetch a pretty penny in the supermarket, around $6 a pint, so why not do a little foraging and save on your fresh fruit budget.

Black Raspberries, also known as thimble-berries and black caps, not to be confused with the Death Caps, which are a species of poisonous mushroom, are a powerhouse of wonderment.  Not only to they provide essential Vitamins C,E and K (which is usually more prominent in leafy greens) but also cancer thwarting antioxidants, polyphenols, fiber and anthocyanins.  Anthocyanins are responsible for the red color in fruits and veggies, the deeper the color, the more it has.  Black Raspberries are even better for you than the red variety, boasting hyper positive digestive and heart health properties.  Additionally, the black ones are are anti-inflammatory and just plain delicious!  

National Fried Chicken Day Recap

As many of you all know, yesterday was the day of the golden fried and delicious pieces of Southern crispity happiness and we paid homage in the cooling evening air, with friends, family and good music and conversation.  It was a very informal affair and rather unannounced, but somehow, we kind of always end up together.  I made my custom breading for a crust that's hard to beat and a flavor profile bursting with levels, personality and the implement of heat using some Korean Red Pepper Flakes, thanks Mukbangers for turning me on to that gem!  My family adores my fried fare, though I don't make it so often as to worry about it being so bad for us.  

I feel that I've perfected my method over the years and all my tasters so far approve, Winning!  My youngest teen prefers boneless chicken and I credit that to sheer laziness haha, but she is a bit leary about food with bones in general, for fear of shards and bits of bone posing a choking hazard.  I respect that, though sometimes it does seem a tad trivial, but hey "Safety First".  I must admit though, she seems to always end up with that food item with something "chokey" in it.  With this in mind, I fried some boneless chicken breast cutlets, careful to examine the chicken before breading.    I also made some crinkle cut French Fries, along with some Waffle Fries, my girls' favorite of the two.  I served the chicken legs and breasts with all the dipper favorites including Buttermilk Ranch, Barbecue Sauce, Thai Chili Sauce, Sriracha, Texas Pete, Mayonnaise, Ketchup and lots of honey wheat and white bread!

I cooked outside on the patio using a propane burner in my go-to chicken frying pot.   I have a "deep frying" pot, but I just love my Emeril, it is a beast for everything.  I've been using it for years now, even and consistent, it's just awesome.  I've been using my primary fry pot since I was in college, well, just out of college. It was a part of my first set of cookware I purchased as an adult and has a wealth of history and 'meal memory'. Admittedly, it's not pretty anymore, but it sure is special, efficient and a true workhorse in the kitchen.  One of the 'rites of passage' in our family is being able to fry a good bird, one I take great pride in, gravy and 'hoe cakes' are in the same category, and with 7 sisters, I must represent. Though I make them infrequently, I like to keep my skills sharp.  The aforementioned foods are a part of the foundation of Southern, African American cooking.  

We also got together for the Fourth of July and I fried some rounds of fish, Whiting Fillets, (the standard for any summer gathering with many people of color) which is another crowd pleaser.   We had all the other customary foods, like burgers, hotdogs, various cold salads, Italian sausages and so on.  We even had a family member bring some crab legs and these gorgeous whole Dungeness Crabs, I used my steamer pot for those and they were spectacular, a wonderful variant to the rest of the menu.  

Dungeness Crabs ready for a steam bath.

We were very chill on National Fried Chicken Day, much like a regular dinner outside.  We didn't engage in the same activities as we did on the 4th, but I'll delve into that day in an upcoming post.  This is one phenomenal and fun 'holiday'! Until next time, keep your crust crunchy and the interior moist and don't forget the hot sauce!

 

Golden and Floating equals ready to eat!

Plantpalooza and Pieces of Me

A tiny spider guest adorns this flowering plant, Guess what plant it is!

Gardens and Goodness are abound this time of year!  Everywhere you look, there's plants growing and showing their summer spirit.  Bright greens, medium and dark, vines, brambles, stalks, bushes are all around.  Green is the color of the moment.  Splashes of reds, yellows, oranges, greens, plus speckles, even purples, shine, even on the overcast days.    I've been cultivating, pruning and nurturing my crops and projects, hoping for the best outcome possible.  

Plants big and small, short and tall have gone into beast mode, spilling out of rows, pots, raised beds and hanging vessels, proud 'produce parents' are sharing garden stories already, picking from the readily available deliciousness; a tomato here, some zucchini there, yellow squashes and green beans galore are being bartered and traded, some have made it to the farmer's markets.  I am ecstatic to see my 'veglings' ( (yep, I made that word up)  prosper, it incites a certain fulfilling magic that helps me tap into my inherent roots, though this is not my first rodeo.  

Year after year, I've expanded my repertoire with more diverse and interesting crops.  My Rainbow Chard is doing awesome this time around.  The Japanese Eggplant is growing well.  I planted some heirloom Black Eyed Peas, so far, so good.  The strawberries are doing better than they were before, I had to thin the Moss Baskets, which I show in an older post, their growth was stifled, and the moss, though still a bright gorgeous green, was hogging all the much needed water from the not sprawling vines, good idea, wrong approach.  I even planted some okra this year.  I have never liked okra.  I plan to harvest at its smallest viable size and hope I can see through my own taste buds, why it is so popular.  I did, however, find a good use for the okra pearls, or couscous, once they'd passed the desirable size.  I created a recipe that lowers okra waste since they are so fibrous after they reach more than 3 or 4 inches long, I removed the shell.    I blanched the pearls, then shocked them in cold water, drained and sauteed them in olive oil with a tad of bacon fat, then folded them with  green peas and roasted red peppers, with fresh sage from the garden.  The pearls actually taste like corn, so that part is pretty cool. By now, you may have guessed (unless you already knew) the photo above is baby cucumber, it's so frickin' cute.  Let's hope it stays that way, cute that is...

 Before I go, I wanted to show you what I did with an empty 50 lb. dog food bag.  I turned it inside out and filled it with some good and nutritious soil and planted my potato eyes in it, for ease of harvest when the time comes.  I am somewhat far removed from digging in the hills and rifling through hardened earth, to find the spoils of this multi faceted and wonderful tuber. My hip, back and foot pain inhibits my ability to perform certain tasks optimally at present, but soon  the hip will be replaced and for that I am grateful.  I fractured and dislocated it in  a motor vehicle accident, now it has to be replaced.  I also broke my arm in half just above the elbow, broke 17 of the 26 bones in my foot opposite my left hip, damaged my lower back from being partially ejected from the window before hitting the ground and the impact collapsed a lung.   I've since had reconstructive surgery with a hamstring graft on my right knee and Carpal Tunnel Release Surgery on my right hand, I've got pins, plates and screws on the inside.  All of this, just 19 days after we laid my big brother to rest, at the untimely age of 43 years, in the truck his wife gave to my Dad...Alas, I digress...Oh, I was 9 weeks pregnant at the time of the accident. On my way into emergency surgery, the doctors told me I would probably miscarry in the upcoming days, because of the trauma to my body.  Bronwyn will be 14 years old this August.  She's my baby girl. I believe in Guardian Angels, Prayers and Blessings from above. We are all very much like flowers in a garden, picked at the time to be determined, flowers indeed.

    

I am proud of this featured method below, because I am able to up cycle an otherwise discard-able item and  utilize it to the fullest.  This method is also great for gardens with limited space, recyclers, homesteaders,  senior gardeners or for those who just want to take an easier route. I have quite a few more ideas for using these bags to share with you in the near future, but this is one of the simplest.  Once the potatoes are ready, I can make an incision or flap in the lower part of the bag  and remove the potatoes with no problem and best of all, no digging!!  I will be posting a picture of the process, later on, down the road.

If you have some spuds that decided they wanted to see ( have 'eyes' on them haha) givem' a dirt nap and save some money on a popular produce item, you can thank me later!

My 'Potato Poncho', made from an empty 50 lb. dog food bag!