Too Much Zucchini??????

Are you overloaded with zucchini from your garden and wondering what it is you are supposed to do with it all? Keep an eye out, I will be posting some yummy zucchini recipes!

Good Receipes Gone Bad (alternative Title: Cooking Disasters)

Today I'm going to post something a little different. Most of the recipes on this blog are posted after we have tested them and actually come up with a recipe that works. Admittedly, some of these things work out the first time we try them, others do not. We never show you the dirty side of being a true cook. We never talk about when things...well...just don't work out. I'll be the first to admit that I am much more of a baker than I am a cook. Don't get me wrong, I can pull together a great meal, but I bake and create works of sweetness with much more ease and comfort. I made perfect Chocolate Souffles the first time I tried, on a whim, one night, with nothing but a recipe from a chocolate cookbook I have on hand and some leftover chocolate. I'm always a little uneasy when I am cooking something for the first time, and I will NEVER cook something big for the first time for other people. I always try out my dishes first. For those of you that read my other blog (That Kind of Girl), the dish that I first made when Memphis came over, I tried out the night before. So yes, that means I bought enough for 2 separate versions of the dish, and yes, it means I actually had leftovers from my first attempt (which worked out quite well) in the fridge while I was cooking the second attempt for him. I even do this with new recipes because I've found, that sometimes, every once in a while, even if you follow a recipe to a tee, it just doesn't work out. This is what happened the other night and I thought I would share with you home cooks out there my disaster because I want you to all know, messing up is half the fun. And sometimes, messing up means creating a whole new piece of art in the kitchen. Other times it means throwing away a whole lot of food because things just did not work out. I realize, especially being on a budget, that can be a hard thing to face. And I have, on occasion (like with this attempt) ate it anyways. But never in a million years would have fed it to someone else.

A few days (weeks?) ago, I was at Shannon's house getting my fix of the Food Network (I am cable-tv-less and get my fix of cable tv at her house). Paula Dean in all her magic was on tv and was making this receipe for Squash and Zucchini Cakes and I thought that those looked like an awesome way for me to incorporate 2 vegetable that I could otherwise care less for into my life (you know the rule "fry it, therefore it is good"). Only I thought I could make it with a Chipotle Ranch dip...because Ranch makes everything better. Hey, I never said I was a healthy cook most of the time all of the time. One of the things that they don't tell you in the recipe is to squeeze the shredded squash and zucchini in between paper towels to remove a lot of the moisture before cooking. Paula did however mention this on the show. APPARENTLY I did not squeeze enough of the moisture out because my cakes did not look like hers (go look at the Food Network picture)....nope, mine looked like this:

Ok, so besides the greasiness factor, you can't really get the full affect of my 'cakes'. They looked kind of crispy on the outside, but no, they were a mushy mess that was barely held together by the egg/breadcrumb mixture you add. They did taste quite good, if you could get over the baby-food texture. And then I threw away the other half of the mixture because I couldn't face it. It was 11 pm and I was just eating my 'dinner'. And as a side note, the whole 'Chipotle Ranch dip" idea didn't work out so well either. I am going to attempt to make them again, but have decided to try baking them first to remove some of the moisture, then frying them for the crispiness factor.

However, I did manage to throw this together in about 5 minutes (with 20 minutes of cooking):

Summer Fruit Crisp with Flaxseed and Pecan Crust

So needless to say, THIS is what I really ate for dinner that night. And THIS is what my kitchen looked like at the end of the night:

Hey, I never said anything about being a tidy chef! My motto has always been "A messy kitchen is the sign of a successful meal" (even if it was only half true this night!).

Steak fries and gravy

I was watching TV the other day and saw someone dunking a fry into gravy.  I got a craving and went to work in the kitchen.  I made it for my husband and a friend who came to dinner.  They both sopped up almost all their gravy with their fries and then started dunking in their steak.  I guess when I got up to get the baby his friend, who had run out of things to dip actually finished his gravy by drinking it.  This is a super quick cook.  Nothing fancy, nothing special, just a quick way to satisfy a craving.

4 large russet potatoes halved and quartered

3 cups vegetable oil

4 cups water

4 beef bouillon cubes

1/2 tsp pepper

3 tbsp unsalted butter

3 tbsp flour

salt

For potatoes

Preheat oven to 400.  Place cut up fries on large cookie sheet.  Lightly coat with oil (reserve remaining oil for frying).  Bake for 15 minutes turning once with a spatula to loosen the potatoes.  Remove potatoes and set aside.  Heat remaining oil in large pan over medium heat (the oil will ripple when it is ready). You can test on potato first, you want the oil to look like it boils softly when you put it in, not bubble and pop out of the pan.  Working in batches of about 10 place fries in oil and turn frequently.  Remove when fries are a golden brown.  Place on paper towels to dry and immediately salt to your taste.

For gravy

Bring water and bouillon to a boil.  Add pepper and boil about 10 minutes.  Pour broth into heat safe container and add butter to pan. Reduce heat to medium. When butter melts whisk in flour. Whisk until golden color.  Turn heat to high and pour broth back in whisking continuously.  Bring gravy to a boil to allow flour to bind and thicken.  Once boiling, reduce heat to low and allow gravy to simmer and thicken.  Pour and serve.

Shrimp Fajitas

INGREDIENTS
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon Tapatio (or your favorite hot sauce)
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 medium onion, julienned
2 bell peppers, julienned (two different colors sweetens up the dish and add more color)
flour tortillas

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large Ziploc bag combine the vegetable oil, lemon juice, garlic, garlic powder, onion powder, Tapatio, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Squeeze the bag to thoroughly mix the marinade. Add shrimp. Refrigerate and let shrimp marinade for 15 to 30 minutes.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp along with the marinade and cook about 2 minutes or until no longer pink.
3. Add bell peppers and onions. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
4. Serve with flour tortillas, sour cream, guacamole or your favorite toppings.

How to: Truss a chicken

With the chicken facing away from you start by putting your cooking twine under the chickens legs.
Then cross the strings forming an X

Pull the X down toward the butt (facing away from you) and pull tight

This will close the legs for you. Bring each piece of twine around the sides of the bird

Make sure you tuck the wings under the twine so they don't pop out during cooking.

Tie the string placing the knot over the neck opening of the bird. This will keep it sealed during cooking.

Tie it up in a pretty bow

And you have a beautifully trussed chicken ready to be roasted!

Vodka Cream Sauce

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
3 tablespoons vodka
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoons fresh basil

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, salt, and a pinch of red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until the onions are soft and golden, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
3. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring, until thick, about 2 minutes.
4. Add the vodka and cook until the sauce reduced by half, 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Stir in the cream and cook until the sauce thickens, about 2 minutes.
6. Stir in the basil and remove from the heat.
7. Top your favorite pasta with the sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan/Romano cheese.

Pictured served over gnocchi and breaded veal.

Roasted Herb chicken

1 Whole chicken
1 stick unsalted butter semi softened
2 sprigs rosemary - stemmed
3 sprigs thyme - stemmed
1 large sprig tarragon
7 cloves garlic
1/2 shallot
4 tbsp olive oil
1 pinch crushed red pepper
1 lemon juiced
1 White onion chopped to 1" pieces
3-4 yukon gold potatoes chopped into 1" pieces
1.5 cups celery chopped into 1" pieces
2 Cups chicken stock
1 Cup white wine
3 tbsp corn starch
4 tbsp cold water
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 450. In food processor combine, butter, olive oil, 2 sprigs rosemary, thyme, garlic, shallots, crushed red pepper, 1 pinch pepper, 2 pinch salt. Mix until all ingredients are chopped and combined in butter. Wash chicken. Starting near the head of the chicken loosen the skin. Begin placing herb butter under skin making sure to reach all the way to the end and down the sides. Truss chicken coat outside with her butter and place in roasting pan. Scatter potatoes, celery and onions around chicken. Cover with stock, wine, salt, and pepper. Halve lemon and juice over chicken. Place halves in pan and drop in remaining rosemary and tarragon. Place in oven for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 and flip bird and roast for another 30 minutes this will crisp the skin on both sides. Flip one final time and roast continue cooking for another 30 minutes. Remove when temperature is close to 170. Cover bird for about 15 minutes and then carve. Dish out vegetables and remove herbs and lemon. Strain excess fat out of roasting pan. Place roasting pan on burner (or pour juices into a soup pot) and bring to a boil**. Season generously with salt and pepper. Combine cornstarch and cold water and add slowly until sauce thickens (not heavy like a gravy just slightly thick). Remove string. Carve chicken and cover in sauce.

** Note, if you don't have enough juice left in roasting pan add some chicken stock. Also some people may prefer to strain their liquid before making the sauce to remove all the bits, I do not do this).

Thickened sauce

To carve breast meat start in the dead center of the bird and let your knife follow the bone down the side. You will have 2 perfect size breasts.