In Denial of Winter: Honey Chicken Skewers with "Grilled" Corn Salad
It’s cold in Ohio. Most days, my recipes reflect the new chilly weather.. chili, soup, stew, roasts.. but I couldn’t resist getting out the grill pan this week. I found this recipe for Honey Chicken Skewers in a Real Simple magazine ages ago, and only now got around to making it.
Don’t forget to soak the skewers in water for a few minutes before you put them on the grill – they can easily burn if you don’t!
In this recipe, the chicken is grilled first, and the marinade isn’t added until the last few minutes. There’s a lot of sugar in the marinade (from the honey), so it could easily burn as well.
I made the corn salad to go along with the chicken, but I cheated – I didn’t grill it! Full ears of corn are scarce right now, so I took the easy way out and sauteed some frozen corn with butter and scallions to get the same effect.
This picture shows our actual portions.. I usually take photos of a small portion (like the photo previous) and then add more food when we actually go to eat. So if you’re at home making the recipes, don’t feel bad if you eat more than I photograph. 🙂
If the snow’s got you down, and you need a little taste of summer, give this one a try!
An Early Morning Photoshoot: Rice Pudding
As I was running around like crazy this morning, I remembered that I wanted to get some photos of the rice pudding while I had a little daylight. I’ve moved the photo operation to the front room instead of the window at the kitchen. The more light, the better.
So, I’m pretty sure this is the first rice pudding I’ve ever tasted. I think the vanilla flavor is delicious (I’ve always been a vanilla girl when it comes to creamy treats.. who even likes chocolate ice cream?). I’m not sure I’m a big fan of the texture, though. I wanted more of the pudding and less of the rice. Perhaps I should stick to straight vanilla pudding, creme brulee, vanilla ice cream.. I could go on.
Nevertheless, it was a fun recipe to try, and it came out better than expected, considering the almost-scorched milk incident. And now I can say I’ve had rice pudding.
I’m excited for the last TWD recipe for November.. Thanksgiving Two-fer Pie. I’ll be making my twist on it for the 2nd Annual Autumnal Extravaganza at Bill & Kath’s this year. Last Thanksgiving, my family started a little post-Thanksgiving get together on Black Friday night where I get to do all the cooking. I love it, and you’ll get to see all of the recipes posted up here. Get excited for some Thanksgiving-style Oven Love!
A Word About Pictures
As most of you know, I take my own pictures for the blog. My strategy for good pictures has been to take them in natural light- they usually come out great that way. Unfortunately, after Daylight Savings Time in Ohio, my natural light is gone by the time dinner gets on the table (it’s getting dark at like 5:00- no joke!). So now, I’m resorting to Photoshop to fix the horrible yellow light from my kitchen in the photos- unless I have leftovers, or I do a breakfast or lunch post, or move to the Land of the Midnight Sun.
Thanks for bearing with me. If anyone has any good tips to remedy this little problem, send them my way!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Rice Pudding
So I’ve been a little delinquent in my Tuesdays with Dorie posts this month due to some personal issues, but I’m glad to say I’m back this week! I didn’t end up making the pudding until about an hour ago, so the pictures are crappy and they aren’t of the finished product- the pudding is getting nice and chilly in the fridge as we speak. Nevertheless, I’ll take you through my rice pudding experience.
I read a few TWD questions about the rice pudding, and found that a lot of bloggers found the pudding too runny. I decided to use a generous 1/3 cup of rice instead of Dorie’s 1/4 cup and just 3 cups of whole milk instead of Dorie’s 3 1/2 cups to try to remedy the problem. When I actually get to try the pudding tomorrow, I’ll post about the results.
So here’s my little pot of rice, boiling away.. nicely, I might add. Minding its own business.
Rice, strained, waiting to be added back into the milk mixture.
The aftermath of my dramatic milk episode. I looked away for one minute- milk madness! The pot almost boiled over completely, but it thankfully, I could salvage it. I had to spend a little time fishing out some scalded milk, though.
A cute little cup of vanilla rice pudding, headed for the fridge! I hope this stuff is good.. I’ve never actually tried it before (don’t tell).
I couldn’t decide on a container to put it in.. I wanted choices so I could take photographs tomorrow morning when it’s actually light outside. I need to find some good tricks for taking photos inside.. I’m so used to my beautiful natural light.. stay tuned to find out if this stuff is actually any good after all the drama!
*Find the recipe here. Thanks, Isabelle!
**Tuesdays with Dorie is a group of bloggers baking through Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours.
Leftovers: Egg, Cheese and Cornbread Sandwiches
Good Morning! What do you do with extra little cornbread loaves? Get creative at breakfast.
This was super simple- I just sliced the cornbread loaves in half, spread some butter on them and toasted them in a skillet. Meanwhile, I scrambled an egg with salt and pepper, then topped it with cheese and sandwiched it between the cornbread. It was tasty and filling – much like an egg and cheese biscuit.
I might start making cornbread more often just so I can make these! Easy and delicious.
Casual Weekend Dinner: Lighter Beef Chili and Cheesy Cornbread
I love entertaining: I love cooking for anyone who will let me feed them. On Friday, I got to cook for Sam, one of Nick’s old friends from the Academy. I decided to make chili and cornbread. Both recipes are new- Nick and Sam were my recipe guinea pigs.
The cornbread recipe is actually from Ina Garten. I’m not usually a fan of the Barefoot Contessa, but I found her recipe in a Tastespotting post by Culinary Cory. The recipe boasted moist cornbread, which is essential for me- I’m not a fan of the dry stuff. It’s also got cheese (and jalepenos, but I didn’t have any- don’t tell), and I can’t argue with that!
What’s interesting about this batter is that you have to let it rest for about 20 minutes. That rest allows the baking powder to activate so the cornbread will rise… and it definitely did! I only made half of the recipe, which ended up making 8 puffy little loaves. The cornbread was great with butter, and tasty the next morning- I’ll be posting my cornbread breakfast sandwiches soon!
The chili recipe was Martha’s. I’m a big fan of cocoa powder in chili- I think it gives chili a lot of depth and richness. To richen the flavor even more, I added some cumin and cinnamon as well. The boys seemed to like it, and I think you will, too!
Kayleigh tries her recipe!
So my little darling ran to Acme this weekend to make her recipe. (Confused? See this post.) She sent me some pictures – see below..
Apparently, Acme had everything but the capellini. I was close!
Thanks for the step-by-step pictures, Kay. 🙂 You documented this recipe better than I did!
A little veggie saute action.
The finished product. Kayleigh’s thoughts?
“I personally think perhaps there was too much cheese? I don’t know. You know me though, Lil Miss Picky.”
Classic Kayleigh. Thanks for trying the recipe, love!
*If you’ve tried one of my recipes or have a recipe you think I should try, comment and tell me all about it!
For Kayleigh: Creamy Cheese Capellini
For my first post back, I wanted to post a recipe requested by my lovely friend Kayleigh. Here were here requirements:
1. Vegetarian.
2. Quick.
3. Healthy.
4. Cheap (Can be bought at Acme. ha)
I have a huge binder of recipes I’ve ripped out of magazines, and this recipe for Creamy Cheese Capellini seemed to fit the bill. It’s all veggie, it only takes 20 minutes, each serving (1 1/4 cup) is only about 340 calories, and if Acme doesn’t have these ingredients, I’d start looking for a new grocery store. It’s definitely tasty, and it’s much healthier than heavy, cream-based sauces. You can always substitute angel hair or spaghetti for the capellini, and add any vegetables that you like. If you need a little more protein, add some grilled chicken or shrimp.
Enjoy the recipe, Kayleigh! Let me know how it goes, take some pictures, and we’ll do a little follow-up post. 🙂
Creamy Cheese Capellini
(from Weight Watchers Magazine, March-April 2008)
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1/2 lb whole-wheat capellini
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
3 plum tomatoes, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed through a press or minced
1 (60z) bag of baby spinach
1 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded fat-free mozzarella cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1. Cook the capellini according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid.
2. While the water is heating up, heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tomatoes and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until the tomatoes are softened, about 2 minutes. Add the spinach in batches, stirring just until each batch is wilted.
3. Add the pasta, reserved cooking liquid, cheeses and salt to the tomato-spinach mixture. Cook, stirring frequently, until all the cheeses are melted. Serve immediately.
I’m Back!
To the best readers a girl could ask for:
Thank you all so much for your concern over the past week. I’m back in Dayton with Nick, now, and I’m very excited to get back to posting. I’m cooking for Nick tonight, so look out for some posts tomorrow! Thanks again and keep reading!
To all my Oven Lovers: FYI.
Just so you know, I’ll be taking some time off from the blog for personal reasons. I’ll be back as soon as I can.
