Finally After Fifteen Weeks

My new kitchen is complete..... (Can you tell I'm grinning from ear to ear?!)

  



Now it is time to move in 

and get down to some serious cooking and baking!

(I'm still grinning!!!)

Firing Up the Ole Grill Part 2

Our adventure without a kitchen has finally ended! Hallelujah! Thank you, Lord!! I'll share some final pics of the new kitchen soon. Thankful to be back in the kitchen. While trying to eat somewhat decently using the grill, the one group of foods I missed more than anything was vegetables.

Salads were great but they became boring.

Here was an easy grilled squash recipe that I tried. Very tasty!

Grilled Squash with Dill Vinaigrette and Feta

4 medium squash
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh dill. chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
sat and pepper to taste
feta cheese, crumbled

1. In small bowl, whisk together mustard, sugar, vinegar and dill.
2. Slowly whisk in olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Slice squash lengthwise into 1/2 inch slices.
4. Brush each side of squash with the vinaigrette mixture.
5. Grill over medium high heat a couple of minutes on each side until tender.
6. Remove from grill and sprinkle with feta cheese


Enjoy...

Firing up the Ole Grill Part 1

While making plans to adjust to having no kitchen, my intend was to grill as much as possible. Living in a town where franchise restaurants lined every main thoroughfare, I knew going out to eat would get old rather quickly.

 

Grilling would be easy peasy, right? Wrong!! Little did I realize that in order to grill one needed a place to prep the food and a place to clean up. So grilling was held to a minimum. Other than hamburgers, hotdogs and steaks I did grill a few new recipes.

Here's one that we enjoyed:

Rosemary Grilled Pork Tenderloin

 1 cup olive oil

¼ cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

Pork tenderloins

1.In large Ziploc bag combine oil, vinegar, rosemary, garlic.

2.Salt and pepper tenderloins and add to bag. Place in refrigerator for 3 hours.

3.Place on hot grill and brown each side of tenderloin about 2 to 3 minutes

on each side.

4.Move tenderloin to cooler side of grill and cover with lid. Tenderloin should 

read 160⁰ on meat thermometer. Let rest before cutting.

 

Enjoy...

 

O, Kitchen, Where Art Thou!?!

It has been a looooong 14 weeks. It still is not complete but the end is near.
On July 31, this is where I had diced, sliced, chopped, stirred, mixed, baked, and prepared many meals for my family for 20+ years.

On August 1st, my kitchen began it's transformation.

Today I decided it was time to "cook" in my new kitchen even if I didn't have a sink or stove top.

Thank you, Leigh Anne (Your HomeBased Mom) for this wonderful Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe. It looked great simmering on the new counter and the soup was fantastic!

Enjoy...

Summer Tomatoes

Recently NPR posted a news article based on the book Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit by Barry Estabrook. The article peaked my interest because I have always dreaded tomato purchasing during the winter. Ugh! Grocery store tomatoes are NOTHING like a homegrown summer tomato. The taste, the texture, the appearance of winter tomatoes are not the same fruit/vegetable as what is picked during the summer months. 

 

 

So during the summer months I try to take advantage of the summer harvest by canning, (wonderful to use in vegetable soups and sauces)

 baking pies and tarts,

 sauteing, and roasting,

Below are two of my favorite ways to use summer tomatoes.

Tomato Tart with Basil Garlic Crust

Crust:

1/3 cup fresh basil
1 garlic clove
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoon butter, chilled and cut into pieces
4 to 5 tablespoons ice cold water

Place basil and garlic in food processor. Process, scraping sides as needed until finely chopped. Add flour and salt. Pulse to combine. Add butter and process until crumbly. Add water, 2 tablespoons at a time. Pulse a couple of times each time. After 4 tablespoons, process a few seconds. If it forms a ball do not add any more water. Flatten to a disk and chill for one hour.

Tart:

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 large tomatoes, slices
1 tablespoon olive oil 
salt and pepper

Roll out crust and place in a tart pan. Add cheeses and top with tomato slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake 375⁰ until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly.

Roasted Grape Tomatoes

4 cups grape tomatoes

3 garlic cloves, peeled

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

In a medium bowl add the grape tomatoes and 3 garlic cloves. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper. In a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish, place the tomatoes and garlic cloves, ensuring they are in just 1 layer. In a 350 ⁰ oven, roast for 20 minutes, and then stir. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of hot water, if too dry in appearance. Return to the oven and cook for 20 to 30 more minutes. When ready, the tomatoes will have begun to shrivel and the liquid in the dish should have thickened. Serve hot from oven.

Enjoy...