Spring!

I love spring. The weather is beautiful outside in Florida. I am trying to relish it while I can since I know soon it will be too hot to even bother to go outside. But right now it's perfect.

And all this perfect weather means that we are gardening!

We have tons of herbs planted, since they are just so expensive in the store - and let's be honest, we're cheap - so chives, basil, dill, mint, parsley, oregano and thyme are all perking up. Nick's planted some romaine, swiss chard, zucchini and cucumbers as well as beets, leeks radishes and beans - all on the patio! He has tomatoes and peppers inside. Hopefully they all do well!

Since moving to Florida last summer, I've had to get used to the seasons and varieties available. It's frustrating and disappointing at times. There are no CSA's in our area, and the one I belonged to in Pittsburgh was awesome. For any of your in Pittsburgh, I definitely recommend Kretschmann's. The farmer's market here has few farmers. And corn - a summer staple - is impossible to find (at least good, fresh corn) even at the peak of the season.There are some benefits, like fresh citrus fruits and freshly squeezed orange juice. I'll venture out more this year and see what else I can find in the area.

How are you preparing for spring?

Do you like Pina Colada's?

I crave something wrapped in a tortilla at least once a week. Seriously. I blame genetics. Anyway, tonight we had chicken burritos served with pina colada's.

The burritos included:

2 Grilled Chicken Breasts with a Chili Lime rub
Black Beans (which are so tasty, I'll have to remember to post the recipe the next time we make them)
Brown Rice
Cheese (we used Rustico Black Pepper and Drunken Goat)
Tomatoes, diced
1/2 Avocado, diced
1/4 White Onion, sliced and sauted
1/4 Green Pepper, sliced and sauted
3 White Mushrooms, sliced and sauted
1/2 Lime, juiced
Sour Cream (we use Tofutti, a soy product, in place of the dairy version)
1 bunch Cilantro
2 Flour Tortillas

Just add all the ingredients into a heated tortilla to taste. The key to getting a moster like this all rolled up is to have a heated tortilla, cold ones will break and split and cause most of your toppings to end up on your plate instead of in your stomach. 

We use this basic recipe for lots of leftover meat, like steak, chicken, etc. I could see it working just as well though, with lots of veggies and beans if you wanted to make this without meat.

Pork Chops

Last week we had bought an 11 pound pork loin because we wanted to try this recipe, but they don't carry roasts in our grocery. So, we bought a huge loin which Nick cut up into various portions of roasts and chops. Plus, we are cheap, and it cost less to buy entire pieces of meat and cut them into portions yourself than to buy prepackaged portions from the grocer. We usually do this with most meats, beef tenderloins for steak, and whole chickens which we then freeze into portions we can use later.

So, back to the chops. We used a this recipe, with a few tweaks.

 Ingredients (for 2):

2 Golden Delicious apples, chopped
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 oz. golden raisins
1/2" piece ginger root, grated
2 tbsp light brown sugar
1 c. apple cider
1/4 tsp cinnamon
a pinch of nutmeg
a drizzle of olive oil
2 pork chops, seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper
1 tbsp butter

Place the apples, lemon juice, raisins, ginger root, brown sugar, cider and spices into a pan. Heat over medium high heat until the apples get soft and much of the liquid evaporates.

In a separate pan, brown the pork chops. Once browned, cook on medium heat until cooked through. Remove them from the heat and then deglaze the pan with the butter and cider. Pour the pan sauce over the chops and top with the apple mixture.

We did tweak the original recipe a bit, we used thinner pork chops and ended up grating the ginger into the applesauce instead of removing it. We'd like to try adding a Granny Smith in the mix for some tartness the next time, so we'll let you know how that goes.

We served this with a heaping side of roasted broccoli with pecorino and a loaf of olive bread with pesto for dipping. We'll have to share the ridiculously easy recipe for the bread in another post, because once you make it, it will be a staple at every meal it's so tasty and warm!

Grandma's Saucy Chicken

So, we dug out Nick's family cookbook tonight and made his Grandmother's Saucy Chicken. I gotta give credit - it is a super tasty meal that only uses a handful of ingredients (most of which you would have in your pantry). It's great for a weeknight dinner since it is so easy and simple to put together.

Ingredients:

Red Wine
8 oz Tomato Sauce
1/2 lb Pasta - any variety
1 c. Mushroom Soup
Mushrooms (optional)
Chicken - up to 12 pieces, salt and peppered on both sides (We use less to make it more saucy!)

The first step is to add olive oil to a pan and heat. When the oil starts to shimmer, place chicken in the pan and do not turn until it has browned and flips easily. Once the chicken is browned on both sides remove from the pan and place into a baking dish. Keep the heat on and place 8 oz tomato sauce into the pan. Then fill the sauce container 2/3 with red wine and add to the sauce. Finally, add 1 c. mushroom soup to the pan. We usually make ours and freeze it specifically with this purpose in mind, but the canned stuff would work also. Scrape the pan to remove brown bits of the chicken and bring the whole mixture to a simmer.

We usually also add slices of mushrooms since we like them so much and it gives some texture to the sauce, but if you aren't into them, or want a thinner sauce, omitting them won't really hurt. Once it's brought to a simmer, you just pour over the chicken that was placed in the baking dish and bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour. If it doesn't cover all the chicken, flip the chicken over about halfway through the cooking time. Cook noodles during the last leg of the chicken's cooking time, or while the chicken is resting. Toss the pasta into the sauce and serve with a large salad and crusty bread to pick up the leftover sauce!

 I know, not the MOST appetizing picture, but trust me, it's awesome.

Pizza Night

I love pizza, and when I discovered I had a dairy allergy I had thought the cheesy goodness was gone from my life. Turns out, I was wrong. I got spoiled.

Nick makes us pizza dough (or we'll pull one from the freezer), and then we go crazy with toppings - whatever is in the fridge - this one included onions, mushrooms, olives, asparagus (a unexpectedly excellent pizza topping), red onion, pepperoni and some sheep's cheese - Rustico Red Pepper from Whole Foods. It's easy enough for a weeknight, great as leftovers, uses up remaining bits of veggies in your fridge with seemingly no other purpose and most importantly,  pretty darn tasty.

Just remember if you make a pizza this loaded to use lots of cornmeal and shimmy the pizza on the pizza wheel occasionally so that it doesn't stick under the weight of the toppings. And we buried some pepperoni because ours tends to cook too much when it's on the top of the pizza (the dough won't be crispy, but the pepperoni's will be overcooked). This one turned out much better.

We served this slice with a big salad. We saved the rest for leftovers to have for lunch or on a night when we are too busy to cook.