Crispy Coated Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash

OK, here is a recipe I am going to make after our annual trip to the Madison farmer's market.  They always have fantastic zucchini and yellow squash.  I have tarragon growing on the deck.  I am not going to wish the summer away but I can't wait to make this.

3/4 C. panko
1/4 C. grated Parmesan cheese
3 1/2 tbsp. olive oil divided
12oz. zucchini, sliced (about 2 1/2 cups)
12oz. yellow squash (about 2 1/2 cups)
3/4 C. thinly sliced halved sweet onion
2 tbsp. fresh tarragon
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

Heat oven to 450 degrees.  Generously spray large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.  Combine panko and Parmesan cheese in a small bowl; stir in 2 tbsp. of the oil until crumbs are moistened.  Sprinkle on third of the panko mixture over baking sheet.

Toss zucchini, yellow squash, onion, remaining 1 1/2 tbsp. oil, tarragon, garlic, salt and pepper in large bowl to coat.  Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet, overlapping slightly if necessary; sprinkle with remaining panko mixture.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until panko mixture is golden brown and vegetables are lightly brown on the bottom.

Grilled Philly Cheesesteak

Chris and I went to Philadelphia a couple of springs ago and arrived during a late winter/early spring nor'easter.  It was the worst weather I have ever experienced on vacation; to the point of being comical.  Everyone had an opinion on where we were supposed to go for Philly cheesesteaks but we settled on Jim's which was a suggestion of a former co-worker.  We hopped into a cab (because it was pouring and the wind was gusting to 50mph) and went to Jim's.  I immediately felt like I was in Johnny's Beef in Elmwood Park, IL because you need to know what you want and be ready to order it when you get to the counter.  So do you want one with peppers, onions and Whiz?  Just peppers and provolone?  It's a ballet of sorts behind the counter sandwiches are worth the wait of approximately a half hour.  I'll be honest I wasn't sure if I was going to like cheesesteaks or not.  LOVED them!

Now I can make them at home!

Or Chris can.

1 large onion, sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 large green or red bell pepper, quartered
1 1/2lb. boneless ribeye or top round steak, thinly sliced
1/4 C. olive oil
1 tbsp. garlic powder
3/4 tsp. pepper
6oz. thinly sliced provolone, American cheese or Cheese Whiz
4 steak sandwich or hoagie rolls, split

Heat grill.  Insert toothpicks through the side of the onion slices to hold together on the grill.  Brush onion, bell pepper and sliced steak with oil; sprinkle with garlic powder.

Oil grill grate.  Grill onion and bell pepper covered, over medium heat or coals 6 to 8 minutes or until charred and crisp tender, turning once.  Grill steak, covered, 2 to 6 minutes for medium rare, turning once.  Coarsely chop steak and vegetables together.

Place cheese on bottom of sandwich rolls, top with steak and vegetable mixture.

Bing Cherry Sorbet with Prosecco

I can't speak for everyone but I wait patiently for the couple of weeks in late June and early July when cherries are in season.  Even as an adult, I am unable to stop eating them until my stomach starts to ache!  We used to get them from a fruit stand it West Central Michigan called Cherry Point.  We don't get up there all that often anymore but I can get decent cherries at the Poot...and most likely Prosecco too!  Stay tuned for the review of this recipe.

1 C. sugar
2/3 C. water
4 C. pitted fresh Bing cherries (about 1 1/3 pounds)
3 tbsp. amaretto
2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
2 2/3 C. prosecco or other sparkling white wine, chilled

Combine 1 C. sugar and 2/3 C. water in a 2 cup glass measuring cup.  Microwave on high for 2 minutes.  Cool completely.  Place sugar syrup, cherries, amaretto, and lime juice in a blender; process 1 minute or until smooth.  Pour mixture into the freezer can of a tabletop ice cream freezer; freeze according to manufacturers' directions.  Spoon sorbet into a freezer safe container; cover and freeze for 4 hours or until firm.  Pour 1/3 C.  prosecco into each of 8 chilled dessert bowls.; spoon about 1/3 C. sorbet into each bowl.  Enjoy!

Serves 8: cal: 214, fat: .2g, protein: .8g, carb: 41g, fiber: 1.6g, chol: 0mg, iron: .3mg, sodium: 0mg, calc: 11mg.

Pork and Tomato Skillet Saute

Tomato season is right around the corner...we've had so many 90 degree days so far this season in Chicago, frankly I am surprised we don't have some ready already.  OK, I'll be patient.  This recipe looks fantastic although, I may swap out bone in chops and use boneless.  Of course, I will probably have to see what I have in the deep freeze.  Another couple of days like yesterday and today, I am going to move myself and my laptop into the deep freeze!

4 tsp. olive oil, divided
4 6oz. bone in center cut pork chops
1/2 tsp salt, divided
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 C. thinly sliced shallots
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. minced garlic
2 C. grape tomatoes
3 tbsp. chopped fresh basil

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Add 1 tsp. oil, swirl to coat.  Sprinkle chops with 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper.  Add pork to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.  Remove pork from pan.  Add remaining 1 tbsp. oil, shallots, vinegar, and garlic to pan; saute 1 minute, scraping the pan to loosen brown bits.  Combine tomatoes, remaining salt and pepper in a medium bowl, toss gently to coat.  Add tomato mixture to pan; cook 2 minutes or until tomatoes begin to soften.  Sprinkle with basil.  Serve tomato mixture with pork.

Serves 4: Calories:255, fat: 10.7g, protein 25.3g, carb: 15.1g, fiber: 1.1g, chol:71mg, iron:1.6mg, sodium: 348mg, calc: 41mg.

Father's Day 2012

Father's Day is kind of a bittersweet holiday for me.  Dad has been gone for 22 years, Grandpa, 7 years...my one Uncle and my Godfather have been gone a handful of years as well.  On the other hand we celebrate with Chris, the kids and his brothers.  I roasted a turkey on the grill today and it didn't flash roast like last year.

I started with a turkey that was just shy of 12lbs.  I put some fresh herbs and two lemons inside the cavity and then put a BBQ rub on the outside.  I added some butter in the crevices of the turkey body and fired up the grill.  I am an amazing fire starter...had no problem getting a fire to 450 degrees in about 15 minutes.

Chris had gotten a smoking box for his birthday so we soaked some cabernet chips and put that on the grill with the turkey in a roasting pan.  It took about 2 1/4 hours to get to 165 to 170 (internal temp) on the bird.  It was yummy!  Check out the finished product.

I also made stuffing which is just simply a bag of Pepperidge Farm onion and sage stuffing cubes with onion and celery sauteed until tender, some fresh herbs from my garden; specifically tarragon, sage and thyme.  Then I boiled some chicken broth and butter using that mixture to moisten the stuffing cubes.  Bake covered at 350 degrees or until some cubes are tender and some are crunchy.   The photo directly below is the cubes with the herbs.

 This is after the onion and celery has been added but before the brother/butter mixture.

Mrs. Long's Red Devil's Food Cake

This is a family recipe from Chris.  I made it today; he requested it for the BBQ his brother is having to celebrate Chris' birthday and the arrival of 2/3 of the kids.  We have had a quick version of this in which you use a cake mix, a box of pudding, and chocolate chips.  This is the "from scratch" recipe.  It's worth running the oven for almost an hour in 90 degree temps!

6 tbsp. cocoa
2 C. flour
1/8 tsp. salt
1 1/2 C. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 C. melted butter
2 eggs
1 C. cold water
1 pkg. instant chocolate pudding
1/4 C. water (or less)
1 bag semi sweet chocolate chips

Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan or line cupcake pan with paper liners.

Sift dry ingredients into bowl.  Add wet ingredients up to the cup of cold water and beat well.  Then add the pudding and some of the 1/4 C. water and continue to beat.  Add more water if necessary to reach desired consistency. Stir in the bag of chips and then pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in greased and floured pan at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes; only 20 minutes if you decide to make cupcakes.

This cake doesn't really need frosting.  I dusted mine with powdered sugar.

Blueberry Muffins

So much of the country had early spring and now summer and our summer fruits and vegetables are coming a few weeks early.  I cannot wait for the blueberries.  Hopefully, the weather will cooperate so I can run the oven without roasting everyone in the house.

1 1/2 C. all purpose flour
3/4 C. white sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/3 C. vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 C. milk
1 C. fresh blueberries
1/2 C. white sugar
1/3 C. all purpose flour
1/4 C. butter, cubed
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

Combine 1 1/2 C. flour, 3/4 C. sugar, salt and baking powder.  Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup  measuring cup, add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup.  Mix this with flour mixture.  Fold in blueberries.  Fill muffin cups right to the top and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

To make crumb topping:  Mix together 1/2 C. sugar, 1/3 C. flour, 1/4 C. butter, and 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon.  Mix with fork and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven or until done.

Sloppy Joes

I am going to make these tomorrow for a meal during the week with Chris and the kids.  It's just easier to make a lot of meals ahead.  That way I can pop in from work and get dinner ready in just a few minutes.

1lb. lean ground beef
1/4 C. chopped onion
1/4 C. chopped green bell pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. prepared mustard
3/4 C. ketchup
2 tsp. brown sugar
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste

In a medium skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef, onion and green pepper, drain off liquids.

Stir in the garlic powder, mustard, ketchup, and brown sugar; mix thoroughly.  Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.

Eggy Doodle Sandwiches

These are probably not too friendly if you are watching calories.  But if you put in a good workout before breakfast, you might just earn one or two of these.

2 tbsp. butter
4 slices Texas toast thick sliced bread
4 eggs
8 slices American cheese
4 slices smoked ham
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Cut a hole in the center of each lise of bread with a round cookie cutter or the rim of a glass.  Placed the bread into the hot skillet, crack one egg into the hole of each slice of bread, break the yolk and cook until the white is mostly opaque.  Flip the slices of the bread over.  Form sandwich halves by topping each piece of bread with one slice of cheese, a slice of ham and one more slice of cheese.  Season with salt and pepper and cook until the edges are fully set; remove from skillet.

Make two sandwiches by putting together the halves.  Place on a microwave safe plate and microwave on high until the cheese is fully melted, 30 to 45 seconds.

Breakfast Pies

This recipe caught my eye and I thought it would be something interesting I could make for breakfasts at work. I am always looking for something that takes me through until lunchtime without using a gazillion calories.  This would also be a fun brunch item.

3/4lb.  breakfast sausage
1/8 C. minced onion
1/8 C. minced green bell pepper
1 12oz. can refrigerated biscuit dough
3 eggs, beaten
3 tbsp. milk
1/2 C. shredded colby jack cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large, deep skillet over medium high heat, combine sausage, onion, and green pepper.  Cook until sausage is evenly browned.  Drain, crumble and set aside.

Separate the dough into 10 individual biscuits.  Flatten each biscuit out, then line the bottom and sides of 10 muffin cups.  Evenly distribute sausage mixture between the cups.  Mix together the eggs and milk, and divide between the cups.  Sprinkle cups with shredded cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, or until filling is set.