Tag: garlic

Italian Barbecued Chicken (with Polenta)


In my recent polenta post, I mentioned that I came across a BBQ chicken recipe from Rachael Ray which I intended on making soon, and decided to try it out last night. I made a few modifications like I normally do, and all I can say is… WOW! The sauce is truly delectable and really makes the dish. I took some to work today, and finished every single last bite! So if you like chicken, and want a delicious new way to make it, I highly suggest you try this recipe.

Ingredients

  • 4 bone-in chicken thigh and leg or chicken breasts 
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tsp. poultry seasoning
  • 2 tsp. grill seasoning
  • 3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 thick cut slices pancetta or bacon, chopped (optional)
  • 1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 to 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 
  • 3 tbsp. brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce  
  • 1 cup tomato sauce 
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock
  • Torn fresh basil leaves
  • Polenta

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
  2. Season the chicken liberally with salt and pepper, poultry seasoning, and grill seasoning.
  3. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium skillet and brown the chicken a few minutes on each side to put some of its flavor and drippings into the pan, then transfer to oven and roast 10 minutes more.
  4. Meanwhile, if using pancetta or bacon, add to pan, and cook until crisp. Remove from pan, crumble and set aside.
  5. If not using the meat, put one more tablespoon olive oil into pan, and add onions, garlic and rosemary. Cook 5 minutes, then add the vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire, tomato sauce and 1/2 cup chicken stock or broth.
  6. Reduce heat to low and let sauce simmer 5 minutes more.
  7. Remove chicken from oven, place in barbecue sauce, add bacon or pancetta (if using) and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
  8. Fill shallow bowls with polenta, top with chicken, spoon extra sauce over chicken and garnish with some torn basil leaves.

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Savory Polenta


Did you ever see a recipe, and that one led you to another one, then another one, and… well, you get the point. I received a recipe over the weekend for an appetizer with polenta rounds that looked absolutely delicious, and planned on making it, then thought I should probably wait until I actually need to make some hors d’oeuvres. So, I continued looking online for different types of recipes which contained polenta and came across one from Rachael Ray, that got tremendous reviews and looked scrumptious, which led me to a recipe from Alton Brown. I definitely plan on trying Rachael’s soon, but made Alton’s polenta side dish, with a few modifications, to go with some leftover rib-eye I had in the fridge. This was my first time making and trying polenta, so wasn’t really sure what to expect, but I really liked it!! This also pairs very well with fish or chicken.

Polenta with Rib-Eye and Cherry Tomato Vinaigrette

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp. olive oil, plus extra for grilling or sautéing the polenta, if desired
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped red onion
  • 1 clove garlic, finely minced
  • 1 cup chicken stock or broth
  • 1 cup milk (I prefer skim) + additional to thin, if desired
  • 1/2 cup coarse ground cornmeal
  • 1 1/2 tbsp. unsalted butter
  • 1/8 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan, grated
  • 1/4 cup Sharp Cheddar, grated

Directions

  1. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
  2. Add the red onion and salt, and cook until the onions begin to turn translucent, approximately 4 to 5 minutes.
  3. Reduce the heat to low, add the garlic, and saute for 1 to 2 minutes, making sure the garlic does not burn.
  4. Turn the heat up to high, add the chicken stock or broth, bring to a boil.
  5. Gradually add the cornmeal while continually whisking.
  6. Once you have added all of the cornmeal, cover the pot and cook for approx. 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes to prevent lumps.
  7. Once the mixture is creamy, remove from heat and add the butter and pepper.
  8. Once they are incorporated, gradually add the Parmesan and Cheddar.
  9. Season with additional salt, according to taste.
  10. If you want the polenta creamier, you can thin with a little cream or milk to get desired consistency. Otherwise, serve as is, or pour the polenta into a cake pan lined with parchment paper and place in the refrigerator to cool completely. Once set, turn the polenta out onto a cutting board and cut into squares, rounds, or triangles. Brush each side with olive oil and saute in a nonstick skillet over medium heat, or grill.

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Steak Marinade


If you’re searching for an extremely tasty and easy marinade for your steak, look no further! A couple of weeks ago, I posted a recipe by Paula Deen for another marinade which is really good, but may just like this one a little bit more. I made this last week to use on some tri-tip and it was amazing, and just whipped up some more to marinate a Rib-Eye… can’t wait to cook it up for dinner!!

Marinade in the blender

Ingredients

  • 1/2 small onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (or red wine)
  • 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary, or 1 tsp. dried
  • 1 tbsp. Dijon-style prepared mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 tbsp. brown sugar (optional)
  • 2 (1 lb) steaks

Note: For my dinner tonight, I only had one rib-eye (approx. 1 lb.), so used about half of the marinade and froze the remaining to use another time.

Makes almost a cup

Directions

  1. Put all ingredients (except steaks) in a blender (or food processor), and blend until smooth.
  2. Place steaks in a large, resealable plastic bag.
  3. Pour marinade over steaks, seal and refrigerate for about 3 hours.
  4. Take steaks out from fridge and let them come to room temperature (30 min-1 hr.) *
  5. Remove steaks from bag, discarding remaining marinade.
  6. Cook on a preheated grill brushed with oil on high, for about 7 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness is achieved, or place in a skillet, over medium-high heat for same amount of time as above. (I cooked my tri-tip on top of the stove).

* It is always best to cook meat from, or near, room temperature. This will help the meat cook consistently across the interior by reducing the amount of time that it takes to cook the meat. But… I have cooked them after just a few minutes of sitting out, and they’ve come out delicious. 

Marinated tri-tip steaks

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Cafe Nordstrom’s Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette


UPDATE: My expert Nordstrom Cafe taste-tester friend came over to my office yesterday to try out the dressing, and after she paused for a minute, I knew something wasn’t right with the vinaigrette . She said it was still very good, but not THE dressing. So, it was back to the drawing board. I did another search last night, and came across a recipe that credited the Nordstrom’s cookbook as the original source. I was fairly confident this was the one, but decided to wait since I was having lunch there today with my friend. We both ordered the same item as mentioned below, so I got to taste the dressing. Yep, it was different. I also decided to purchase the cookbook to be absolutely sure I had the correct recipe 🙂 Both recipes do have all of the same ingredients, but in different quantities. I’ve noted the changes below, with the correct measurements in bold. I just made this again using the updated, official recipe from Nordstrom’s cookbook, and am thrilled to report that this is the real deal and tastes exactly like what is served in the restaurant!

The OFFICIAL Nordstrom’s Chipolte Lime Dressing

***********************************************************************

A few months ago, my good friend, Danette, invited me to join her and some other coworkers for lunch at Cafe Nordstrom. My first thought was, whaaaaat… they have a restaurant? Being that I’m a HUGE fan of Nordstrom’s, of course I was going to try it out. We went to the one in the South Bay Galleria mall in Redondo Beach, which ironically, is pretty close to where I live. The way the cafe operates is you place your order and pay at the front counter, sit down at a table of your choice, then a server brings your meal, beverage, etc., and continues to wait on you. It’s pretty cool, in my opinion. Okay, moving on to the food. I ordered their California Grill sandwich, which consists of roast turkey, tomato, bacon, swiss cheese, avocado, and garlic aïoli, on grilled sourdough bread (SO GOOD) and a side salad with… cilantro lime vinaigrette. My friend told me the dressing was amazing and addicting, and she was spot on! So of course, I was on a mission to find the recipe, and after just a little research, I did. Happy happy, joy joy!

The First Attempt

Ingredients

  • 1/4 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
  • 1/4 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp. 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp. 2 tsp. chipotle purée *
  • 3 2 tbsp. honey
  • 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1/2 big bunch 1 cup cilantro, roughly chopped, most stems removed (I used approx. a little over a cup) stems & leaves
  • 3/4 cup canola oil

* Making the chipolte purée is super simple. I purchased a can of La Costena chipolte peppers in adobo sauce (pictured below), and simply put the contents of the can in a food processor (can use a blender), and voila, you have purée! You can also buy the purée already made, which comes in a jar.

Directions

  1. In a blender or food processor, combine lime juice, rice wine vinegar, garlic, purée, honey, and salt. Blend together well until thoroughly processed and smooth.
  2. With the machine running, gradually add the oil in a thin steady stream to form an emulsion. (I found this difficult using my blender as it splattered a bit, so I added a little oil at a time, pulsed, then repeated until the oil was gone)
  3. Add the cilantro, and pulse or process to combine.
  4. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
  5. Refrigerate until you are ready to serve. Whisk well before tossing the dressing with the salad.
Source: Nordstrom Entertaining at Home Cookbook

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New York Strip Steak (with Tarragon Melting Sauce)


When I’m in the mood for steak, I usually pick up beef tenderloin or tri tip, but the Smart & Final near my house only carries NY strips so I will occasionally grab one if I don’t feel like heading over to Trader Joe’s or Von’s (that’s rare, but it does happen). About a week ago, I got a NY Strip and was looking at various recipes to try something different, and came across one from Paula Deen that tickled my fancy, so decided to give it a whirl. The marinade is easy and quite tasty, and I plan to use it the next time I make a filet. As for the melting sauce, it was a nice compliment to the steak. In the event you didn’t know, I’m into sauces big-time, so was eager to taste this one. The recipe for it does yield a lot, even though I’ve already cut it in half…twice, and I only use a very small amount since it is butter-based (we know Paul Deen likes her butter), but it’s also great on baked potatoes and warm rolls.

NY Strip w/Tarragon Melting Sauce and Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup olive oil, plus oil for skillet
  • 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
  • 3 (1-inch thick) boneless New York strip steaks
  • Tarragon Melting Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

  1. In a heavy-duty resealable plastic bag, combine oil, lemon juice, garlic, Worcestershire and pepper. (I like to press a little salt & ground pepper onto the steaks before marinating).
  2. Add steaks to bag. Press the air out of the bag, and seal tightly. Turn the bag several times to distribute the marinade; place the bag in a bowl and refrigerate 30 minutes, turning bag occasionally.
  3. Heat a large oiled skillet over medium-high heat.
  4. Remove steaks from marinade, discarding marinade.
  5. Place steaks in hot skillet; cook 4 to 5 minutes on each side or to the desired degree of doneness.
  6. Remove steaks to a serving plate, and keep warm.
  7. Top each steak with a teaspoon (or desired amount) of Tarragon Melting Sauce.

Tarragon Melting Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tbsp. green onion, minced 
  • 1/4 tbsp. fresh tarragon leaves, minced (or 1/4 tsp. dried tarragon) – you could substitute rosemary
  • 1/4 tbsp. fresh parsley leaves, chopped (or 1/4 tsp. dried parsley)
  • 1/4 cup light or nonfat sour cream
  • 1/4 tsp. lemon zest
  • 1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
  • 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
  • Pinch of salt

Directions

  1. In a bowl, add all ingredients together and mix until smooth. Cover, and refrigerate.

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Easy & Delicious Baked Beans


The 4th of July is quickly approaching (yay), and I am thinking of all of the wonderful traditional dishes associated with this holiday as my department at work is having a little potluck lunch to celebrate (my mouth is already salivating).  Clearly, I have long list of possibilities of what I can bring, but one of my favorite sides comes to mind… baked beans. When I went to look for my recipe on here, I was shocked to find that I did not post it previously. My bad! So… here it is!

This recipe calls for bacon, but I believe it would be just as tasty if you choose to omit it.

Ingredients

  • 8 strips of bacon, thick cut
  • 2 (28 ounce) cans of Bush’s baked beans w/bacon
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 small Vidalia onion, chopped
  • 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

Directions

  1. Cook bacon in microwave, checking after each minute, so it’s still soft. Don’t let it get crisp.
  2. Cut into small, bite-size pieces, set aside.
  3. Put the remaining ingredients in a crock pot. *
  4. Add the bacon and mix.
  5. Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

* This can also be prepared in the oven at 350 for 1 hour in a 3-quart baking dish.

Serves 10

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Garlic-Thyme Burgers with Grilled Tomato


Here’s a nice alternative to spruce up the tradition burger. Very flavorful and easy to make.

Recipe courtesy of Cooking Light mag

Ingredients

  • 1  tbsp  chopped fresh thyme
  • 1/2  tsp  kosher salt
  • 1/4  tsp  freshly ground black pepper
  • 2  garlic cloves, minced
  • 1  lb  ground sirloin
  • 4  (1/2-inch-thick) slices beefsteak tomato
  • 1  tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 4  (2-ounce) Kaiser rolls or other sandwich rolls
  • 4  baby romaine lettuce leaves

Directions

  1.  Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat.
  2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl. Divide mixture into 4 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty.
  3. Add patties to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.
  4. Remove patties from pan. Add tomato slices to pan; cook 1 minute on each side.
  5. Spread about 3/4 teaspoon mustard over bottom half of each roll; top each with 1 lettuce leaf, 1 patty, 1 tomato slice, and top half of roll.

Note: you can add a little low-sodium beef broth to the meat for juicier burgers

Holy Guacamole!


Love guacamole? Me, too! Here is an easy, but tasty dish you can whip together in about 10 minutes.

Ingredients

  • 3 avocados – peeled, pitted & mashed
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
  • 2 plum tomatoes, diced
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • A pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 1 to 3 chopped serrano chiles (optional)

Directions

  1. In a medium bowl, mix together the avocados, lime juice and salt – mash well.
  2. Add in the onion, cilantro, tomatoes, garlic and cayenne pepper.
  3. Best to refrigerate for 1 hour, but can be served immediately.

 Avocado tips:

Use Hass avocados, the brown, wrinkly kind, for guacamole. They’re especially rich & creamy. Buy avocadoes that are slightly soft, but not squishy. Ripen in a paper bag with a banana or an apple at room temperature. Store ripe avocados in the fridge for 2 or 3 days.