Weekly Menu - 7/21 - 7/24/08

A short four day menu this week as we'll be heading up North to the lake on Friday where I think we'll let my Dad cook up some of his Memphis Ribs for us!
We're enjoying some amazing summer weather here in the Upper Midwest & the summer crops are finally ready to start picking.

Now I can't wait until we get more than one cherry tomato at a time.

On to Menu Planning Monday

Indian Barbecued Pizza - with chicken & cauliflower - RESULT - This is just a great sauce for a different than everyday pizza

Molasses-Brined Pork Chops with Roasted Corn Salsa - From Mastering the Grill: The Owner's Manual for Outdoor Cooking - RESULT - Finally a juicy pork chop & I want to put this salsa on everything.

Steak Fajitas - RESULT - Fajitas are just so easy they've become one of our go-to meals

Garlic-Hazelnut Chicken Breast with Mustard Glaze - From Mastering the Grill: The Owner's Manual for Outdoor Cooking

This week's cupcake will be Black Forest (with the sour cherries we just got from Michigan). We'll also be making a Chocolate Mousse.

Chicken with Grilled Tomato Sauce

The idea for this meal came from the fresh herbs that our growing like crazy in our garden. The basil & oregano said make tomato sauce to me but I wanted one that was full of fresh flavor & didn't need to be cooked inside. The cherry tomatoes for this are grilled on skewers until soft & then their heat wilts the fresh herbs bringing the flavors together. Matt would have liked the tomatoes to be broken down even more (perhaps with a food processor or blender) for a more saucy texture. I liked them just smooshed with a fork for a chunky sauce where you could still see the grill marks on the tomato skins.


Grilled Tomato Sauce

9-oz cherry or strawberry tomatoes
1/4 c fresh basil, chopped
1 T fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 T fresh oregano, chopped
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar
salt & pepper

Put the tomatoes on skewers, if bamboo make sure to soak them in water for about 1/2 hour first. Cook over a medium direct heat on the grill until soft & brown. Keep an eye on them because if they get too soft you'll lose them too the fire.

Put the chopped herbs & garlic into a medium bowl. When the tomatoes are brown & soft take them off the grill & put them in the bowl with the herbs. Use a fork to smash the tomatoes into a chunky sauce. Stir in the olive oil & vinegar. Salt & pepper to taste.


2 servings

We served the sauce over grilled chicken breast with freshly grated Parmesan & mozzarella. There was just enough to also serve it over a small side of pasta.

Roasted Vegetable Salad

To me roasting vegetables is one of the best ways to prepare them. It just seems to enhance the flavors. Plus it is certainly a simple preparation. In the summer, I like to serve the vegetables over a crisp bed of greens & then crumble some goat cheese on top. The heat of the vegetables melts the goat cheese giving it a creamy texture. Just look at how pretty it is too...

Our latest CSA box just seemed to have the perfect vegetables for this salad; beets, fennel, cauliflower & fresh garlic plus a head of leaf lettuce. We added some green beans from our garden and an onion.

To make the vegetables, cut them all in to bite-sized pieces & put them in a roasting pan. If like me, you don't want the beets to turn everything else pink, create a little dish for them from tin foil to keep them separate in the pan. Coat everything with olive oil & a good dash of balsamic vinegar. Salt to taste with kosher salt. Roast at 400F for 30 - 40 minutes until the vegetables are tender & starting to brown. Serve on a bed of greens & top with goat cheese.

We served this with Foldover Garlic Bread that was also made with fresh garlic. I didn't think fresh garlic (the skins are not dry like you get in the grocery store) would make much of a difference but cooked it was much milder.

Grilled Roadside Chicken Dinner

We eat a lot of chicken here at Chez Good Appetite & I think cooking a whole chicken has to be one of our favorite things whether its roasted in the oven or on the grill. So, when Matt decided he wanted to cook something from Rick Bayless's Mexican Everyday (Recipes Featured on Season 4 of the PBS-TV series "Mexico One Plate at a Time") this week he was immediately drawn to this Grilled Roadside Whole Chicken.

According to the book the marinade used on this chicken is Sinaloa-style & popular at roadside stands throughout all of Mexico. Its really a wonderful blend of spice, dry chile & apple cider vinegar. I loved the way the flavor of the cloves & cinnamon came through in taste & smell. The chicken is spatchcocked (go here for our tutorial on spatchcocking) which allows for it to cook evenly & remain really juicy. I'm not a big salsa fan but tomatillo salsa was a perfect flavor accompaniment with the chicken.

Our only little gripe with this recipe is that the marinade is only put on right before & during cooking so, most of the flavor is on the skin & hasn't really made it into the meat. It does make the skin delicious but we all know that the skin isn't the healthiest bit to be eating. We think next time we may let the chicken sit in some of the marinade for awhile before actually putting it on the grill.

In the book, the chicken is served with grilled knob onions which are basically large scallions. We used a mixer of white & purple scallions. They are lightly oiled & salted then grilled during the last ten minutes of cooking the chicken. Their flavor was so wonderfully mellow & sweet. There's really nothing like a grilled onion.

We also served black beans & Matt's Cumin Flavored Rice. The rice is a take on the Spanish Rice we are used to getting in burritos in San Francisco. We made a lot of rice & a whole can of beans in order to turn the leftovers into a Mexican Rice Salad for lunch another day.


Grilled Roadside Whole Chicken

Marinade
1 1/2 T ground ancho chile powder
1 t dried oregano
a big pinch of ground cloves (I did a really big pinch)
1/4 t ground cinnamon
2 garlic cloves, finely minced or crushed
3 T apple cider vinegar
1/4 c orange juice
1 t salt

Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl.

3 lb chicken

Spatchcock the chicken so it lays flat. Smear both sides of it with the marinade. Cook over medium (350F), indirect heat on the grill with out turning. Bast from time to time with remaining marinade. The chicken is done when a thermometer in the thigh registers 160 F, about 45 minutes. Remove the chicken to a cutting board, tent with some tin foil & allow it to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before carving.
Serve with tomatillo salsa

Serves 4

Matt's Cumin Flavored Rice

1 1/2 c brown rice
1/4 t cumin
1 T tomato paste
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t onion powder
3 c water

Bring the water to a boil. Stir in the rice & all other ingredients. Cover & reduce to a simmer. Allow to cook until all the water is absorbed about 45 minutes.
Or
Throw all the ingredients into a rice steamer & cook until the water is absorbed.

Makes 6 servings

Strawberry Fool Tarts with Shortbread Crust

I think I've mentioned a few hundred times how amazing the local strawberries have been this year & how it looks like I just got my last batch. We were really tempted to just eat them over ice cream but I like to experiment with new things. So, I began searching the internet & found a recipe for Strawberry Fool Tartlets from Bon Appétit February '96. A fool is a classic English dessert which combines fruit purée & whipped cream. The idea of using it to fill tarts fits perfectly with my love for small batch baking.

The recipe included a pastry crust recipe that every reviewer hated so I knew I wouldn't be using that part of it. I figured I'd just use one of the crusts from Small Batch Baking. But then I started thinking about a cookie crust. I wondered how shortbread cookie dough would work so I decided to experiment.
I used the shortbread cookie recipe from Small-Batch Baking, just leaving out the nutmeg, which worked perfectly for 2 tarts. It held its shape nicely when being removed from the tart pans. It tasted wonderful with the strawberry fool. The only downfall was it was pretty hard. I was really difficult to cut into it with a fork, I found it easier just to pick up the tart & bite into it. Perhaps pastry would have been a better way to go but I love the flavor of shortbread cookies.
The fool itself was really beautiful. It had a creamy, fresh flavor & set up nicely thanks to the gelatin. It is a bit time consuming to make only because of the amount of time it needs to sit in the refrigerator. The finally setting time was supposed to be 4 hours, I only let it set 1 & I would say it was pretty close to completely set at that point.

Shortbread Cookie Crust

1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 T + 1 t cornstarch
pinch of salt
4 T unsalted butter, room temp
3 T sugar
1 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix the flour, cornstarch & salt together.
Place the butter, sugar & vanilla in a small bowl & beat with a mixer on medium until light & fluffy. Add the flour mixture & mix together with a fork until the dough comes together. Split into two balls.
Lightly butter two 4 1/2-inch tart pans with removable bottoms. Put one ball of dough into each, pressing it into all the sides & bottom. Pierce the bottom with a fork. Line the tarts with foil & fill with pie weights or dried beans. Place on a baking sheet & bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven & carefully remove the foil & weights. Put the tarts back in the oven & allow to cook until golden brown, about 10 minutes more.
Remove the tarts to a rack & let cool in the pans then, carefully remove crust from the pans before filling.

Makes 2 tart crusts

Fool

4-oz fresh strawberries, hulled, coarsely chopped
2 1/2 T sugar
1/2 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 t unflavored gelatin
1/4 c chilled whipping cream

Blend chopped strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in processor until almost smooth. Transfer to medium saucepan. Sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand 20 minutes to soften.
Stir strawberry mixture over low heat until mixture is just hot and gelatin dissolves, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Transfer to large bowl. Cover and refrigerate until beginning to thicken, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours.
Beat cream in medium bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream into strawberry mixture. Chill fool until beginning to set, about 30 minutes.
Spoon fool into crusts; reserve any remaining fool for another use. Refrigerate until set, about 4 hours.

Fill two tart crusts with a little leftover.