Grilled Bruschetta Chicken

I stumbled upon this one on the Kraft website of all places. IT IS INCREDIBLE and absolutely perfect for this cool grilling weather we've been having in Utah. I of course made modifications to the original, ridding it of Kraft products and otherwise elevating this chicken to manna from heaven levels. I also increased the amount of bruschetta so you can have more for your crusty bread or just to eat with a spoon.

The technique on this chicken is a little weird, but not difficult. You grill the marinated chicken on one side, then place foil on the grill to cook the other side. The foil catches every last bit of lovely bruschetta and prevents your grill from getting nasty.

Note on grills: we have a tiny cheap $15 camping grill with small camping propane tanks plus charcoal. It was a small investment and pays off big time for our cooking-for-two needs. But if you don't have one, I'm sure this one would also work in the oven on a grill pan.

Chicken:
* 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
* 1/4 cup of your favorite italian dressing or marinade.
I didn't have any, so I used a couple TBS balsamic vinegar, olive oil, sun dried tomatoes, salt, and herbs.

Bruschetta:
* 2 large roma tomatoes, finely chopped
* 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes (optional)
* 1 large clove of garlic, minced
* 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar (or to taste)
* 1 TBS olive oil
* Kosher salt to taste
* 1/2 cup  Shredded Italian cheeses. I mixed hard Romano and Parmesan with mozzarella and it worked fabulously
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried basil leaves (but it's so much better with fresh!)


1. Marinate chicken for 10 minutes to 2 hours depending on your time constraints. Rotate chicken often.

2. Place large sheet of heavy-duty foil over half of grill grate; heat grill to medium heat.

3. While grill is heating, combine bruschetta ingredients and let sit.

3. Grill chicken on uncovered side of grill for 6 min.

4. Turn chicken over; place, cooked-side up, on foil on the grill. Top with bruschetta. Close lid. Grill 8 min. or until chicken is done (165ºF).

5. Serve with grilled asparagus tossed in olive oil and kosher salt.

Mostly Vegan Lemon Poppyseed Cookies

I'm not vegan (ummm, hello? No bacon?) but I did have a delicious vegan cookie from the local organic grocer and it was delish. There are the closest approximation I could come up with. Good if you know people with egg allergies or vegan folks!

Delish Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter (soy butter if you are going for real vegan; real butter works better!)
3/4 cup soy yogurt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla (I just did a big splash)
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
Zest of lemon or ~1 tsp dried lemon zest
Juice from 1/2 lemon
2 1/2 cups flour
2 Tbsp. poppy seeds

Preheat oven to 350. Blend the sugars, butter, and soy yogurt together (you could probably substitute 6 ounces of plain regular yogurt). Gently zest just the outer layer of the lemon, cut in half and squeeze cup up to keep the seeds from dropping in the bowl.

I found that it was possible to drop onto the baking sheet using spoons but the dough was a lot easier to handle if chilled for 30 minutes or so. I recommend putting 9 cookies on a regular cookie sheet because the dough spreads quite a bit.

Bake 10-12 minutes (check at 10 because they can get toasty quickly). Let them sit on the baking sheet for about 2 minutes, then let cool on cooling racks. Enjoy!

Lemon Greek Potatoes

A friend who worked in a Greek restaurant made these for me and I was addicted. I rudely ate out of the serving dish and dabbed my potato in the lovely lemon sauce at the bottom. Mmmmm... Anyway, she searched forever to find the closest recipe to the potatoes that they made at the restaurant, and she found this one:

Ingredients
• 3 lbs waxy potatoes (I prefer to leave the skins on)
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 1/2 C chicken stock

Shortcut directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400. Cut potatoes into chunks.

2. Toss the cut potatoes in olive oil and place in a glass baking dish and microwave for 10-15 minutes while your oven is heating until your potatoes are starting to get tender.

3. Combine the rest of the sauce ingredients and pour on potatoes. Bake for 20 minutes until potatoes begin to brown and get a little crispy and the sauce at the bottom is thickened from the starch.

Long directions:
1. Cut potatoes into chunks and combine all ingredients to marinate for 2 hours.

2. Bake potatoes and sauce in glass baking dish at 400 for 1 hour and 15 minutes.


Whether you marinate them or not, these potatoes have quite a punch.

Classifications and a Search?

Hey, I was thinking about cooking blogs I frequent and how labeling makes world of difference when you want to make pork or can't remember that muffin recipe you saw a few months ago. When we post recipes, it would be awesome if we could look at the labels on the right and see if our recipe fits in any of those categories and then add any other descriptors. Most of the recipes have labels, but sometimes the labels are too narrow for effective searching. Also, since I'm not an admin, could one of you add a search widget to the blog?

Annnnd,you can tell me to shut up if I'm being anal. I won't mind.

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Bisque

I'm Motion de Smiths and I feel weird introducing myself to people. Nevertheless, I love to cook basically anything. I'm a fan of quick meals that come together easily, but I'm not afraid of spending 5 hours on hazelnut gelato when I have a free Sunday.

I think restrictive diets are stupid. Eat what you want, when you want, just maybe not in the vast quantities you want. To clarify, I also like Megan's ideas on eating better. I don't consider eating more good stuff a stupid diet at all. EAT!



This is an EASY and fabulous recipe adapted from one I found on epicurious.com

Ingredients:
• 5 large red bell peppers
• 3 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3/4 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup grated hard cheese of your choice (I used Gouda and Parmesan)
• 3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil

1. Roast red peppers under broiler on a lipped cookie sheet, rotating every 3-4 minutes until parts of the skin are charred. Put hot roasted peppers in a paper bag for 5 minutes to allow the moisture to redistribute and make seeding a snap. Seed peppers and place them in a blender with your chicken stock until pureed. Depending on the size of your blender, this may be done in batches.

2. Bring red pepper mix to a low boil adding paprika and sugar, and any other seasonings you may want.

3. Reduce heat, add cream and cheese, simmer for 5-10 minutes until somewhat thickened (though it's not a thick soup, it shouldn't be watery).

4. Add kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste. Serve with paninis or crusty bread with sauteed mushrooms.

NOTE: Though I love jarred roasted red peppers for many recipes, this is NOT, I repeat NOT one of them. The flavor just does not work--it's pickled and harsh instead of sweet and mellow.

A Love Song to Blood Oranges

Oh, blood orange.

Thou art fruity, juicy goodness.

Thy mellow casing belies thy pungent purple flesh.

I will rhapsodize o'er thee—

Until I eat thee all gone.

Apple and Gorgonzola-Stuffed Pork Chops

These pork chops are great for when you want to knock the socks off of company without it taking all day. These cook up quickly and are a lovely savory-sweet.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. butter
1 apple, peeled, cored, and finely diced
1 Tsp. Thyme
1/4 c. crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
4 pork chops (1 1/2 inches thick)
Salt and pepper

1. Melt the butter of medium-high heat.
2. Add the apple to the butter and cook until soft.
3. Remove the apple from heat and put it in a small bowl w/ the Gorgonzola crumbles.
4. Using a thin-bladed knife to cut a pocket into the middle of the pork chops (don't cut completely through)
5. Liberally salt and pepper each side of the pork chop. Sear in a hot pan for about 1 1/2 minutes on each side.
6. Stuff with the Gorgonzola/apple mixture. Don't overstuff or it'll all spill out.
7. You can either broil it on each side for 4-5 minutes or sauté covered over medium heat for 4-5 minutes each side. Veer on the side of underdone since pork chops (especially lower-quality ones) get stringy and tough if overcooked.

Serve with Gorgonzola sauce (optional)
1 1/2 tsp. butter
2 garlic cloves
3/4 c. chicken stock
2 Tbsp. cream
1/2 c. crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
1/4 tsp. black pepper (though, I prefer a lot more)
1 Tbsp. chopped Italian parsley

1. Deglaze the crusty bits left from searing the pork chops with the butter. Add garlic and cook on med-high heat for 1-2 minutes
2. Add chicken stock, cream, Gorgonzola, and pepper and simmer 10 minutes
3. Remove from heat and stir in chopped parsley.
4. Spoon warm on top of Gorgonzola pork chops.