CHICKEN PICCATA

Ron made this great dinner last night while I caught up on my favorite blogs.  Chicken Piccata, what a treat! He served it with spaghetti and a caprese salad.

Look at the color and richness of our heirlooms. Our tomatoes are still producing and better than ever. These heirlooms have been worth the wait. We have had an abundance of tomatoes this year begining in June. They have been the best tomatoes we have ever had. There is still some basil on the plants, but we know it's getting time to say good bye to summer and start to harvest from the fall and winter garden.

                           CHICKEN PICCATA

4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves

3 TBSP. butter, room temperature

1 1/2 TBSP. all purpose flour

Additional all purpose flour

2 TBSP. olive oil

1/3 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup low salt-chicken broth

1/4 cup drained capers

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Lemon slices for serving

Place chicken between  2 large sheets of plastic wrap. Using a meat pounder or rolling pin, lightly pound chicken to 1/4 inch thickness. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Mix 1 TBSP. butter and 1 1/2 TBSP. flour in small bowl until smooth. Place additional flour in shallow baking dish. Dip chicken into flour to coat; shake off excess.

Heat 1 TBSP. oil in each of 2 heavy large skillets. Add 2 chicken breasts to each skillet and cook until golden and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to platter; tent with foil to keep warm.

Bring wine, lemon juice, and broth to a boil in 1 skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk in butter-flour mixture and boil until sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Stir in capers, parsley, and remaining 2 TBSP. butter.

Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over chicken and serve.

Serve with lemon slices

Makes 4 servings

Recipe from Bon Appetit

HUEVOS RANCHEROS

What a nice surprise I had this morning when Ron told me that he was making Huevos Rancheros for breakfast. I'm not much of  a traditional breakfast eater but give me something with salsa and avocado on it and I'm a happy camper.



With all the characters in place, Ron lightly fried the tortillas and set them aside. Next step was to put some black beans on top of the tortilla and top it with grated cheese. The tortillas went into a 350~ oven for about 10 minutes, until the beans were warm and the cheese had melted.

He fried some eggs and topped the tortillas with them. He also quickly sauteed a purple bell pepper that was growing in the garden. The eggs were topped with salsa, avocado, green onions, cilantro, salt and pepper, and some bell peppers on the side.

What a great way to start my weekend.

Thanks Ron!

PARMESAN-ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Ron made this delicious butternut squash gratin to go along side some oak grilled tri-tip.



Butternut squash is mixed with fresh sage leaves, cream, and Parmesan cheese, taking roasted squash to a whole new level.

                                             PARMESAN-ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH

2 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed and cut into 1" pieces

1 cup heavy cream

9 fresh sage leaves, 3 chopped and 6 left whole for topping

1 cup finely grated parmigiano-reggiano

4 TBSP. unsalted butter

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400~ with rack in middle.

Toss squash with cream, chopped sage, 1 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Put squash mixture in a 2 qt. shallow baking dish. Bake covered for 30 minutes.

Stir in 1/2 of the cheese and sprinkle remaining on top. Roast, uncovered, until squash is tender and beginning to brown, about 20 minutes. Let stand about 5 minutes (cream will thicken).

Cook 4 TBSP. butter in skillet until brown and bubbling. Add sage leaves and remove from skillet. Pour over top of roasted butternut squash. 

GRILLED TRI-TIP

Grilled Tri-Tip. I can hear your thoughts....so what?....ho hum... no big deal...well, who would have thought of giving it a bath in Sriracha Sauce?  Ron of course.

I walked into the kitchen and our tri-tip had a red coating on it. I was expecting a dry rub. It looked like ketchup. Oh no! I asked him what the heck that was on our tri-tip. When he told me that he coated it with sriracha sauce and some garlic salt, I went into my happy dance. Brilliant!

If anyone out there does not know what sriracha is, let me educate you. It looks like this.

It's made right here in California. I read a story about a man named David Tran. He came to the U.S. from Vietnam in the 80's. He couldn't find a chili sauce that he liked, so he decided to make his own. He then started selling it out of the back of his van in Los Angeles. As his following grew, he moved into a processing facility in Rosemead, a Los Angeles suburb. He now sells more than 10 million bottles of it a year.

If you like spicy you will love this sauce. You can put it in almost anything, from eggs, to sauces, and even (gasp!) Bloody Mary's.

This was one great Tri-Tip.

Thanks Ron!

GOLDEN BEET AND ARUGULA SALAD

Ron and I spotted some wonderful golden beets at the Farmer's Market. He made this beautiful salad last night. First he cut off the greens. Don't throw them away! We always use the greens. They are really good. Just wash them and then tear the leafs off of the ribs. Saute in olive oil and garlic until wilted.  Add some salt and pepper and serve. Buy the beets with the freshest looking greens you can find. Not only will they be delish but it assures you that the beets are fresh.

Then he lightly scrubbed the beets, roasted the beets in foil at 375~ for about 1 hour, until tender. Be careful not to cut into the beet before roasting or it will bleed all over.  Let them cool a little and then peel the skins off (use a paper towel to do this, it keeps your hands from staining) and slice them. We served them on a bed of spicy arugula with some goat cheese, grape tomatoes, and chopped candied walnuts from Trader Joe's.

We dressed it with a 25 year old balsamic vinegar and a drizzle of olive oil. It would be good with any kind of vinaigrette. I really like it with Pascucci's dressing.

I could eat this salad on a weekly basis.

It is perfect served with a grilled steak.

Thanks Ron!

PORK WITH MUSHROOM SAUCE

Ron made this delicious pork the other night. No recipe but he told me he put two small pork roasts in the crock pot with a can of cream of mushroom soup, some water, and some garlic salt. It cooked on low for 8 hours. Then he made a sauce using  more cream of mushroom soup, chicken stock, some roasted baby bella mushrooms, and some truffle oil. Salt and Pepper.

Served it with egg noodles sprinkled with chopped parsley.

It was really good. Thanks Ron!

FLAT IRON STEAK WITH HERB SAUCE

Ron made this for dinner last night. The flat iron steak was so tender and the herb sauce was such a nice addition. This is approximately what Ron did.

He melted 2 TBSP. butter and 1 clove of minced garlic in a small pan. Then he stirred in 1 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped, 1 TBSP. fresh parsley, finely chopped, 1 tsp. fresh oregano, finely chopped, and 1 tsp. fresh thyme, finely chopped. Add 1/4 cup sherry vinegar, 1/4 cup olive oil and a pinch of salt. Warmed it for 5 minutes and served it over the grilled Flat Iron Steak.

It was delish!

Thanks Ron :)

RON COOKS

When Ron cooks I know it will be really good. He never uses a recipe, that is why I gave him his own category. Here are some pictures of some great dinners he cooked.

This was uh.....well, I guess I'll call it Crockpot Surprise. We pulled two packages of meat out of the freezer and one was marked Pork Tri Tip and the other looked the same but no label on it. Ron made some kind of sauce, threw it in the crock pot and this is how it came out. It was really good whatever it was! He served it with broccoli, German Spaetzle, and a salad.

Ron is the master of this chicken dish. Whenever we have leftover chicken he makes a dinner with rice, chicken, and a creamy-lemony-caper sauce. I love this.

Ron also made this delish dish of scallops, mushrooms, and other things over pasta. Another great meal.

Thanks Ron for all the great meals!

RON COOKS!

It's that time of the year...FRENZY TIME!!!! Working long hours, trying to decide on the perfect present for everyone, partying with your friends and finding time to rest.

Ron cooked tonight so I could relax. He grilled a tri-tip, made a salad and we had some healthy baked onion rings. Try Alexia brand baked onion rings. They are healthy and good. You can find them at Lazy Acres, Whole Foods and Tri County. They are the only frozen rings that I like.

Ron can cook one awesome tri-tip, check it out.

Yeah baby!

POTATOES MAKE ME FLUFFY

OK, so I said it. Now I'm going to out myself. I'm a closet (and sneaky) potato eater. Whenever I eat potatoes my body fluffs. I try not to eat them but I LOVE POTATOES. When I go to a restaurant and I have a choice between fries or salad I choose the salad BUT...I get really excited when the person next to me orders fries. I'm great at the distract and snatch technique. When I go to a party and chips are served I graze on the chips all night. Sometimes if I'm lucky the hostess (usually my skinny sister or my Mom) decides that she does not want leftover chips at home so she will send me  home with a Lexi bag. I usually play the game and say "oh thank you but I don't usually eat chips"...and then with a slight of hand they just end up in my bag. I go home and quietly munch myself into chip euphoria.

 Mashed potatoes are a major fluffer. I stay far away from them. Potato skins don't seem to be too bad because most of the fluff has been removed. But I still fluff a little after eating them, it must be the cheese, bacon and Ranch Dip that does it.

If I do decide to buy a potato I will buy just one. I figure that Ron and I can split one for dinner and that should have a minimal fluff effect.

I know potatoes are really fattening. In writing this post I did what most good journalists do...I mean beginning bloggers do...... and I did a fact check on potatoes. OMG! I discovered that potatoes are one of the greatest nutritional values in the produce departments. At 25 cents per serving, a medium potato (5.3oz) eaten with its skin on has just 110 calories. It has 1/2 your daily value of vitamin C and one of the best sources of potassium. AH-MAZING.

So, where am I going with this ramble? My husband does not have my problem. When he goes to the store I am sure he looks at one potato for 25 cents or.....



10 LBS. for 79 cents! I can't believe it, even the bag says It's "OK."

Ron said he wanted to make dinner tonight so I suggested he use potatoes...ya think? He baked about 6 potatoes until they were slightly firm and them he sliced them into 1/2 inch slices. He melted about 1/2 stick of butter in a cast iron skillet, layered the potatoes with cheese, salt, pepper, garlic salt and a sprinkling of herbes de provence. Then he returned it to the oven and baked it for 20 minutes and then topped it with cooked bacon pieces and a couple of eggs. He cooked it until the eggs were set and then served it. It was really good.

Looks like there was some parsley on top too.

Plated with a nice green salad. The man is awesome.