Chicken Tagine - summertime version

Lemon Chicken Recipe - with Basil and Garlic

It's summer, and things tend to grow in the summertime! Had an abundance of basil and cherry tomatoes, and chicken that needed to be used....tonight. Rather than BBQ, I opted for some Chicken Tagine!

How to make:

Start by lining the tagine with the sauce, and placing the raw chicken on top .

lemon basil sauce - (PRE cook)

• 1/4 cup juiced lemon
• 8 peeled garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup fresh basil (I use double b/c my hubby likes it *strong*)
• 1/3 cup olive oil

Cook on low (setting 2) for 35 minutes on the stove top. Cook the side dishes while you wait!

Roasted cherry tomatoes AND CHEESY BREAD

Here's some really awesome roasted garlic bread. Cut it up on place on toaster oven like so (see below). The bread slices on the left are simply lined with EVOO. The ones on the right have sliced cheddar and a pinch of garlic salt (Lawry's is king).


Cherry tomatoes are amazing in summertime, especially since they grow so well during the summer. Line the foil with olive oil and simply roast in convection oven for 10 minutes on 400. Melt in the mouth.

Roasted garlic potatoes

I like the golden potatoes, but red or russett work well.

1. Cut/dice 2 potatoes (or the desired quantity)
2. Line tray with foil
3. add olive oil
4. sprinkle garlic salt
5. cook on 425 for 25 min or until desired crispiness is reached

Lemon Basil Sauce - Topping

Take the chicken out of the tagine when it's done cooking. Set on plate.

Using your immersion blender, apply it to the cooked basil-garlic-olive oil mixture in the tagine until it's nice and frothy. About 30 seconds. Pour over chicken. Sauce tastes great over the potatoes too.

lemon basil chicken - the finished product!

Cod Recipe - complete summer dinner in 15 minutes TOPS

cod fish recipe - for 2 people

-2 cod fillets
-1 tsp of olive oil
-a pinch of lemon pepper

Line the fish with a minimal amount of olive oil. sprinkle with lemon pepper. Grill on Foreman grill for 5 minutes. (10 if frozen) Remove when done.

Summertime side dish

It's tomato season. Slice up one of them ruby red boys and add rosemary to each slice (see photo below).

In the meantime a pre-seasoned bag of microwaveable vegetables always does the trick. Follow necessary instructions to heat and serve (should only take 5 minutes).

Grilled Cod

Here it is. And, it only took 15 minutes.

kebab grill ... with only 3 ingredients (!)

My folks' farms are in full production so they passed along this produce. "Grown with Love!" Yay.

Kebab Recipe

-1 LB of meat (cut into cubes)

-olive oil

-2 fresh vegetables

-skewers

-booze of your choice

Kebab grill

After spending the day on the beach in the sun, going to the grocery store isn't an option. That is what we had in the fridge, so that is what we cooked.

The meat was actually a 'london broil' cut, and we only needed 1 bell pepper. Drizzled olive oil on there, let it sit for 30-min. Had some great 'local' seasoning laying around, so DPT dusted that on there.

The meat wasn't as thick, so it was cooked on med-high for about 12 min. Was monitored and lightly dusted with seasonings.

Went very nicely with the Pinot. Only thing I would do differently is soak up the skewers for an hour in water beforehand.

itty bitty hats

Material: something really soft from JoAnns that I forgot I had.

Looming

Hardware: 1 round loom (6in diameter) + knit hook + a knitting needle (really huge for yarn). You can purchase an all-inclusive kit at Michaels (with instructions) for under $10.

easy baby beanie knitting pattern

What you do:
Follow instructions for looming. When the work gets to be desired length (4" for this one), 'finish' the work so it comes off the loom. Cut the yarn so there's 6" loose and pull the top tight. Tie a double knot at the top and finish it off in your preferred way. (I just tied a few double knots and took the 'kn-eedle' and sewed the remainder into the top).

This gift is for a baby boy that is due in October!

Creamy cream-less chicken w/ grilled Cauliflower & roasted basil potatoes

Tonight's finished product:
No cream was used. Just garlic :)

Baked Lemon Chicken with Rosemary and Garlic

Baked Lemon Chicken Recipe

Prep a casserole dish with the following mixture
(garlic cloves, spice mixture (totals 1/4 cup: 50% oregano, (50% oregano leaves, 30% paprika, 20% fresh rosemary), juice of 2 lemons, juice of 1 lime.... I added an extra lemon wedged b/c it was going bad. Mix it all together!

Add seasoned chicken (however you like- I use steak seasonings). Cook covered for 45 minutes on 425. If you brown beforehand, cut that time in half!

Stovetop: Lightly glaze a grill pan with olive oil. Throw on something simple, like TJ's 21 Seasoning Salute. Stir to make sure all seasonings get in the cauliflower. Cook on Med for about 25 minutes- until desired texture is reached- somewhat soft.

Now for the prized potatoes! Dice up 2 GOLD potatoes. (they're just better!) Line pan with foil- barely glaze with olive oil to avoid stick-age. Sprinkle McCormick's garlic salt w/ parsley. Then add dried basil (usually we do Rosemary but for the sake of redundancy, I did Basil. Thyme, Dill, Tarragon or Oregano or Italian Seasonings would also work). Bake this bad boy in the toaster oven on 425 for 25 minutes.

Now that everything is done cooking, add chicken to plate (along with potatoes and cauliflower). Using your hand blender, puree the cooked garlic mixture in the casserole dish until totally pureed into a gravy. Pour it on chicken, add the cauliflower and potatoes to plate as well.

Viola!

40 clove garlic chicken. Thank you, immersion blender

40 clove garlic chicken

Tonight's problem: There are 2 huge chicken breasts in the refridgerator that need to be cooked *tonight* (or else...)
Tonight's solution: a rendition of 40-clove garlic chicken!

This picture is from Sunset Magazine- mine looked slightly different, but followed a similar enough recipe.

 

Sprinkle some onion pepper on breasts- brown chicken breasts on med heat 30 secs on each side.

Set aside.

Take 40 whole garlic cloves and throw them in a casserole baker (preferably with a lid!). Add spice mixture (50% oregano leaves, 30% paprika, 20% thyme- spices combined should total 1/4 cup), juice of 2 lemons, juice of 1 lime, and 1/4 cup olive oil.  Mix all ingredients together. Take browned chicken and place on garlic clove/spice mixture, cover with lid. Cook at 425 for 45 minutes.

Baked Chicken - what to do when it's done

When done take out chicken & set onto serving plages. Take immersion blender and blend garlic clove mixture together-makes a thick, creamy gravy (!!) Pour over chicken & enjoy (my husband sure did)

Side dish recommendations:
Steamed spinach (in chicken broth), or
Rice Pilaf, or
Roasted Zucchinis (quarter zucchini, dip a finger in olive oil and run olive on top of zucchini- sprinkle with mccormick garlic salt and roast in toaster oven for 10 minutes on 425)

Chimichurri Swordfish Trader Joe's Style

http://pinterest.com/seastar620/

 

Swordfish w/ Chimichurri (Trader Joe's style)

Aint gonna lie- it was amazing.

Took a pack of Trader Joe's Swordfish- grilled it in garlic oil in my grill pan. Sprinkled McCormick Garlic Salt on both sides (lightly). Cook for 10min or so (until sides are totally white). When finished turn off heat. Pour chimichurri over it. let simmer/cook in chimichurri for 2-3 minutes. Gives it a nice crunch.

My Trader Joe's Cheese Bread

Asagio cheese bread rolls. Cut in half. lightly dust with butter. sprinkle your favorite yellow cheese on there to your liking. Add 2 sprinkles of McCormick garlic salt. Toast in toaster oven for 1-2 minutes. Done.

Green Beans

The ultimate cheat- buy 'em in a can (french cut style) and when done sprinkle Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute.