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Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Quick Takes: The Delish Edition



Seven snippets of life right now: relating to all things delish and homemade.
  1. Loving my tomatoes that are finally turning red! 
    The Sweet 100s are above...with the first tomato fruit that I'll probably be picking off the vine tomorrow!  These plants are way more successful than last  year's.  In the last few days, though, I've been seeing a ton of tiny, itty bitty little black bugs on the leaves and stems.  Is that bad?
  2. Made the best 'lighter' Chicken Parmesan EVER last night.
    This is my go-to recipe now for Chicken Parm, and it seriously does not taste low fat!  The Wee Ski loved his (albeit without the cheese), and finished two chicken tenderloins. 
  3. Loving garlic scapes.
    Seriously, doesn't even surprise me that there are veggies I've never heard of.  Several years ago, my veggies consisted of corn on the cob, tomatoes (in ketchup) and potatoes (in french fries).  Made an incredible lemon pasta on Sunday with a half-dozen garlic scapes, sun-dried tomatoes and some Tsillan Cellars gewurzt. 
  4. And seriously, loving cooking with wine.
    I can't believe I ever bought "cooking wine".  For the love, if you wouldn't buy it to drink, why would you use it in your food?  It's a challenge if we don't finish a bottle of wine to find a way to use it in our food.  An incredibly delish challenge, if I do say so.  That's what made the difference in my knockoff of the Cheesecake Factory's Chicken Madeira.  Buying a real bottle of madeira, not just the "cooking wine" version of it.
  5. An easy risotto. 
    We've had this twice in the last week; no leftovers yet.  Risotto usually has you standing over the stove for 40 minutes working the starches out of the rice.  Not anymore!  Into the rice cooker: 1 cup arborio rice, 2 2/3 cup chicken stock (using Swanson's natural, low sodium), 1/3 cup white wine, 2 TB butter, 2 TB olive oil.  Stir it up and turn it on.  That's it.  Risotto for dummies.  Or lazy people who would rather watch Leverage instead of standing over a hot stove.  Don't be surprised though, if you are licking your bowl.  So very good.
  6. Honey oat bread.
    Wee Ski approved.  No milk or eggs.  Just dense, awesome bread goodness.  Made it on Sunday just before we left for Mass.  Best scent ever is walking back in the door, a few minutes before it's done.  Nom nom nom.  Thomas gets Earth Balance (soy free) on top, we take a little butter + orange blossom honey.  Jonathan also had it in a sandwich yesterday for lunch.  Perfect sandwich bread.
  7. Lemon basil salmon.
    Fabulous marinade.  Served it with the risotto above.  WAS. IN. HEAVEN.
So tell me, what are we missing out on right now?  Are you making something yummy?  Do tell!!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

My new love is grilled/BBQ's veggies.

Chop up zucchini, broccoli and red/yellow/orange peppers, plus small mushrooms and grape tomatoes. Toss 'em together with Italian dressing. (We've also done olive oil, salt and pepper and Penzey's Italian herbs.)

Put them on a grated pan (like a pizza pan) or on a BBQ pan meant for veggies. Put the pan on the grill while you're cooking your burgers or chicken. We mix them around a bit in the pan as they cook, try to get the pieces hot and toasted.

Pretty basic, but very yummy. I know some people use asparagus and chopped up corn on the cob chunks.

Unknown said...

I could actually use your help...I need dairy free, soy free, egg free food for Mark. Any good ideas you have tried?

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