Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Check this out!!  Tomato Plant Eating Horn Worm invaded by Parasitic Wasp Larvae.  Survival of the fittest.  Nature Rocks!!!

Quick Chicken Curry and Vegetables

You may have noticed by looking at my blog that I really like curry flavors.  I haven't yet made my own curry spice mixture, but I'm working on it. Until then I use a curry powder that I bought from Jungle Jim's which is this huge market that sells everything food wise that a foodie would love.  It's just an amazing store and I spend hours and lots of $$ every time I go.  If you haven't been, take a road trip and check it out, you won't be disappointed.

This dish is very easy, very quick and tastes great.    I got my curry rice going which consists of 1 C basmati rice, 1tbs butter, 1 tsp of curry powder, 1 tsp kosher salt,  1.5 C chicken stock.  Just put all this in a pot and cook, bring to boil, cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook about 20 minutes.  Let the rice rest for about 10 minutes after cooking and fluff with a fork.  Now the curry chicken and veggie is really easy, tonight I just used what I had on hand, 1.5 lbs organic boneless skinless chicken breasts (rinsed in cold water and patted dry) cut into bite size pieces, 1 tbs EVOO,  3 garlic cloves chopped, 2 C broccoli florets,  1/2 C frozen peas, 2 C fresh baby spinach leaves, 1/2 C heavy cream,  1/2 C chicken stock, 1.5 tbs curry powder, 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1 tsp garam masala, 1tsp hot Hungarian paprika 1 tsp kosher salt.  I added the EVOO to a large skillet and heated it over med high heat for about 2 minutes and added the chicken pieces and chopped garlic and coated them with oil and just sauteed it for about 3-4 minutes until all sides if chicken were no longer pink.  I added the broccoli, chicken stock, broccoli and peas, salt, spices and continued to simmer for an additional 2-3 minutes.  I then added the heavy cream and stirred the mixture, and let it simmer for another 2-3 minutes.  I then stirred in the spinach, reduced the heat to low, covered and simmered for about 3-4 minutes.  I removed the skillet from the heat and just let it rest, covered, for about 10 minutes.  I served the chicken over the curry rice and garnished with a spring of cilantro and crushed red pepper.  I wish  I would have had some naan bread on hand to dip in the creamy sauce, but maybe next time.  I hope you try this dish.  It's really easy, quick and yummy.

Sunday Supper

Louis whipping us some beans

Autumn's Banana Pudding

We had a wonderful Sunday supper with my in-laws, the whole gang was there my momma and papa in law, mamaw in law, my sister and brother and law, my niece and nephew and my cousin in laws, and my hubby.  My papa-in-law Louis cooked up some serious Louisiana cuisine (they are from Mississippi and Louisiana, so they kind know their cajun food).  I would give you the recipes, but it's pretty much a little of this, little of that, with a pinch and a dash of that too.  He's a great cook and he just has everything he makes in his head.  My sister-in-law takes after her father, because her recipe for her amazing banana pudding was similar to her dad's.  She said you use some bananas, banana pudding, sweetened condensed milk and whip cream.  Yeah, I think I can do that:o).  Anyway, we had a feast with "authentic" cajun dirty rice made with fried chicken livers, spicy baked beans, bbq chicken slathered with this amazing spicy, sweet, savory bbq sauce (definitely umami).  I'll try to get the recipe.  My father in law kind of gave me the recipe for the dirty rice and it goes like this, saute your trinity (onion, celery and green pepper) until soft, set aside.  Fry the chicken livers until done and then chop them finely and add this along with the trinity to 5 C of rice and chicken stock and cook until done.  Oh, and don't forget the S&P.  The finished rice is sticky and not wet. It was a an amazing Sunday Supper not only because of the food, but because we were together as a family.  Thank you all for a wonderful Sunday Supper!!

Grilled Pork Chops with Cappellini

We had been on a long ride, so when we returned home we grilled up some pork chops and served those with some cappellini pasta (angel hair pasta). We used the gas grill, since it was late and we were both pretty hungry.  I preheated the grill with 3 burners on high and 2 on low.  I prepared the chops with some kosher salt and a generous amount of fresh ground pepper.  I also had a tbs of unsalted butter reserved to brush on the chops while they grilled.  I placed the chops on the high heated side of grill and grilled each side for about 5 minutes.  I only turned them once for 5 minutes per side.  After that I moved them to the low side of grill and brushed butter on one side. It took the chops about 20 minutes to grill total until they reached a temp of 145.  In between turns I buttered the chops.  After those finished I let them rest for about 5 minutes.  While my chops rested I had my salted water going for my pasta.  While chops were grilling Will minced 4 cloves of garlic and made a chiffonade of about 1/4 C of fresh basil leaves.  The cappellini only takes about 4 minutes to cook.  We reserved a C of the pasta water and drained the pasta, placed it back in the pot with 1 tbs of butter 2 tbs of EVOO the garlic, basil and fresh ground pepper.  We also added some of the pasta water to keep it loose.  We served the pasta with some grated Parmesan cheese, crushed red pepper along with our grilled pork chops.  Bon Appetito!

Country Fixins

Last night we grilled some corn on the cob and some thick pork loin chops.  We also had some half runner green beans and red skin potatoes.  We grilled the corn and chops on the charcoal grill.  The chops were about 1.5 inches thick and I seasoned them S&P.  I grilled them until they reached an internal temp of 145.  They took about 20 minutes.  I've tried grilling corn several ways, removing husks and laying on grill , soaking the corn in cold water for several hours and not soaking the corn.  I think my favorite way is to soak the corn with the husks left on in cold water for up to 8 hours and laying the corn on the upper grates of the grill, where they will steam.  I usually keep them on the grill up to 30 minutes. While my chops and corn were grilling I prepared the half runner beans and potatoes for the pressure cooker.  If you're not familiar with half runner green beans, they are thicker and larger than the green beans you usually find in your market.  They are firmer, and have a large beans inside the pods.  You also need to remove the string from the pods before cooking.  They also are more yellow green in color.  I've never seen them in my local market.  Farmers markets usually have them in the summer.  When I was a child my grand parents always grew a large garden with lots of half runner beans.  When the beans would come in I would help my mamaw pick them and string them.  She would usually can 20-30 qts of the beans.   I remember that she would slow cook the fresh beans with bacon and bacon fat.  They were so yummy with mashed potatoes, corn bread and fresh home grown tomatoes.  This was a wonderful summertime meal.  For this meal I took the beans and some red skin potatoes quartered and cook them in my MDF pressure cooker for 6 minutes.  I let the pressure cooker get to max pressure, reduced the heat to low and cooked them for 6 minutes.  After 6 minutes I removed the cooker from heat and let it release pressure naturally.   When they cooled we placed in bowl with S&P and butter.  Yummy!  We served the corn with lots of butter and S&P along with our beans, tators and chops.  Now that's some country fixins.  Enjoy!

Ginger Garlic Chicken & Noodles

This dish has a lot of potential, and it could've been really awesome had I done a few things differently.  So this is how you should do it... take 3 boneless skinless chicken breast and cut them into small bite size pieces and coat them lightly in a mixture of cornstarch and Kosher Salt.  Heat about 1/4 C canola oil over high heat in a large skillet.  Add your chicken to the hot oil and brown.  While chicken is cooking get your noodles going.  I used linguini.  Be sure to add salt to your boiling water.  Cook noodles according to directions.  Remove the chicken from the pan and add your garlic and ginger and saute over med heat until the oil infuses the garlic and ginger (about 3-5 minutes), add your chicken back into the skillet and add 3/4  C  chicken stock and let the dish simmer for about 10 minutes.  Drain cooked noodles and reserves about 1/2 C of the pasta water.  Take 10 leaves of fresh basil and tear by hand and added to noodles and add about 3 tbs of thai garlic chili oil to the pasta and fold it in.  Add a little of the pasta water, just to keep the noodles loose.  Serve the noodles in a bowl with the chicken over top and drizzle about 1 tsp of soy sauce over top.  That's it.  FYI- be sure to get your skillet very hot before you add the chicken otherwise the chicken will get a slimy coating on it from the corn starch.  This slimey coating will overtake the dish and that's not Good Eats.

Chicken with Mixed Veggies and Kluski Noodles

Tonight was about using whatever I had in the refrigerator and pantry, so I came up with this dish that was good for a first timer.  First thing, I got my Kluski Noodles going-it usually takes them about 20 minutes to cook.  I chopped up 5 cloves of garlic, and one jalapeno and I sauted those in a very large skillet with 1tbs of EVOO over med heat for 1-2 minutes. I had 2 different types of mixed veggies in the freezer and I added those to the skillet and let those saute for about 5 minutes.  While the veggies cooked, I took some leftover chicken thighs and drumsticks, removed the skin and bone and chopped the chicken into very small pieces.  I added the chicken to the veggie mix.  To the skillet I added 1/4 C unsalted Chicken Stock, 1/4 C heavy cream and 1/4 C low fat sour cream.  I stirred it and brought it to a boil and then reduced it and let it simmer.  While it simmered I added 1tsp marjoram, 1tsp oregano, 1tsp of red pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp thyme and a 1 tsp of onion powder to the skillet and mixed it in and continued to let it simmer.  As it was simmering it was getting really thick, so I added about 1/4 C of skim milk.  When the noodles finished cooking I added them to the skillet with the chicken and veggies.  I also added about 1/3 C of the noodle water to the skillet just to keep the dish loose.  The end product was like a chicken stew and it was good, but it would be better with fresh vegetables and the addition of white wine to the sauce would've been nice.  From start to finish this dish took less than 30 minutes, so if you don't have a lot of time give it a try and let me know how it turned out.