Grilled Chicken BLT and Fresh Local Corn! Ahhh... Summahhhh!!!!

So, as usual, I am super excited to have not only my 3 boys home for dinner.... I have one of my favorite extra boys!!! Wooohooo! Boys in da' HOUSE! Happy Mom and happy eaters... and my dinner is super simple and ridiculously delicious!! Grilled chicken BLT's on homemade bread (focaccia) and simple fresh picked (6 hours ago) Hadley corn!! Nothing better! Here we go... First, the transport vessel for our summer sandwich of awesomeness... focaccia... simple flat bread! First, I took my favorite store bought bread dough and let it thaw and spread it over a sheet pan. You can make your flat bread as big or as little as you like. Tonight, we made our enormous!! Then, I drizzled some olive oil over the top and spread that dough with my fingers... putting dimples in the dough as I spread it! Last, I sprinkled some tasty flavor on that bread, poppy seeds, granulated onion, garlic powder and some sesame seeds... but you don't have to. It will be great either way! I cooked the bread in a 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes, or until golden and cooked through! BOOM! Awesome bread ready for some sandwich deliciousness!! Then, time for simple grilled boneless chicken breasts, super lean, packed with protein, and ready to please this house full of athletic marathon eaters!! All I did was butterfly the breasts in half (the long flat way... making 2 thinner pieces) with a sharp knife. I sprinkled my chicken with some salt and pepper and garlic powder and a little thyme. Then, grilled on medium high heat for about 3-4 minutes per side (depending on thickness), then pulled off the grill to rest. When done, the chicken will lose it's pink color, and seem opaque, firm, but NOT HARD... hard chicken is dry (shoe-leather) chicken... don't overcook the chicken!! And finally!!! The bacon! I cooked my thick cut bacon in a 375 degree oven for about 35-40 minutes until crisp and yummy! BLT's require super tasty salty, crispy bacon, and that's just what we got! So... to assemble the sandwich... split the focaccia and toast it for a minute or two, just to get crisp! Spread with your favorite mayo, slice up that grilled chicken and spread it all over! Top with your favorite lettuce (our was super fresh local red leaf lettuce picked about 10 hours ago... thank you western Mass), sliced tomato, and a few slices (or as many as you like), of that crispy salty bacon!! And here you have it... the simplest icon of a summer sandwich... made with love and grilled chicken goodness! BLT's done RIGHT! And a bunch of boys to share it with.... VERY happy Gremlinmom !!!

Burgers and Boys.... and Kick Ass Slaw!!! In 5 Minutes!!!

So... this is a familiar tale... burgers, wedges, and some sort of veggie, as in tonight's cole slaw!!! Dinner, Joe's way.... So, like I said, we took our humble potatoes.... cheap, easy, adaptable, and so eager to please... and chopped them into wedges, coated them with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and then propped them up like little soldiers.... And they will taste amazing this way!! We sprinkled some of our wedges with some cayenne pepper, because we like a little heat! After about 45 minutes in a 375 degree oven, your wedges will look like this!! And will be super tasty and crispy on the outside, tender, and creamy on the inside! Sooo flippin' GOOD! If you couldn't tell, already.... we're potato wedge JUNKIES!! And we can afford... and LOVE... this habit of awesomeness!! So, while Burgers are grilling.... Here's who stole the SHOW!! This freakin' amazing tangy, crispy, crunchy, creamy sweet slaw!! And it was so easy!!! First, I grabbed a red cabbage, chopped carrots, a red onion, and some cilantro from my friend's garden, and thought.... Heck Yeah.... This could be good!! First I chopped half of that red cabbage and added it with about 1 cup of the shredded carrots, about 1/3 of that red onion, and about a half cup of fresh cilantro (or to taste)! Chop and toss together and get ready to take the easy road to some tasty slaw with this creamy chipotle salad dressing. Tonight, I used about a quarter cup, or 4 tablespoons, with a little salt and pepper! Doesn't look fancy.... but make it, taste it, and you'll get addicted to this crispy crunchy fresh veggie side dish to everything and anything you eat this summer!!!

Summer Pasta.... Shrimp, Sausage, and Boys!!!

So, a lot of you may know I have 3 spectacular boys that I love with every ounce of my full beating heart!! One grown and gone... sigh.... another, Marine about to leave.... yikes... and one High Schooler left! Thank you Jesus!!!) So... nights like tonight are pretty rare, special, and make a Mom's heart explode with love and pride!!! Here's how it went.... First, we planned for a delicious summer pasta dinner... our favorite kind of dinner... and it started with this....plain old pasta, cooked according to the package directions. But, WAIT... it gets better!! Before I cook the pasta I have to thaw and shell these shrimp.... nothing fancy, just frozen shrimp I soaked in cold water, thawed, shelled (Stevie shelled.... and BTW... put your kids to work in the kitchen)... then I soaked them in 4 cloves of chopped garlic, 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning, some salt pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste! While that shrimp sat in a tasty garlicky marinade, I chopped some fresh, local zucchini! 3 smallish succhini. Nothing better in the summer! AND, WHAT the WHA??? In walked... two more boys!!! All my boys... in da' house! Extremely happy MOM... 'nuff said!!! After chopping my super fresh, extremely local zucchini, I cut up these hot italian sausages that I baked off in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes... and they can't wait to join the pasta party!!! After that, I dropped all that chopped zucchini into a big saute pan on medium high heat with about a tablespoon of olive oil and tossed for about 1-2 minutes! Next, I pushed all that zucchini to the side, and added my garlicky shrimp to the hottest part of the pan so they could have a turn... and I tossed them a bit, too. You want the shrimp to get pink, but, as you can see it's a crowded pan (but I'm lazy, and I have strategies to washing as few dishes as possible)! After a few minutes, the shrimp will start to get pink, and that's the time to start tossing everything all together! When the shrimp are mostly pink, and DON'T worry about all of them getting pink, you do not want to overcook these tender babies... and they will be in that hot pan for another few minutes, but when they are ready, add my favorite... Baby spinach... and toss for about 1 minute. It looks like a lot, but will wilt down in about 30 seconds! Now, toss together, with your cooked sausage, and get ready to add the pasta!!! Tonight I added my pound of cooked spaghetti, and about a half cup of cream, with all that liquid that was already in the pan. Then I added about a half cup of grated parmesean cheese and tossed together to get one of our families all time favorites! Delicious, savory pasta.... infused with local summer veggies and some tasty proteins! Just the way we LIKE it!

Cheddar Cheese Jalapeno Cornbread!

Cornbread is the perfect quick bread to ride along side of any summer meal... chowder, grilled meat or fish, or a big ol' pot of keilbasa and beans... but tonight, they'll team up with ribs and corn! Since we eat a lot of cornbread... because it's so easy, quick, and tasty... I change it up a lot, by adding in different little extra flavors. Tonight our cornbread collides with some sharp cheddar cheese (grated, about 1 and 1/2 cups or up to 2 cups) and chopped jalapenos...and it was a match made in heaven! The other secret to super tasty cornbread... you know, with crispy edges and a soft tender middle, is this big-ass cast iron skillet! To get it ready, drop about 2 tablespoons of butter in the skillet, and pop it into a 400 degree preheated oven to melt the butter... And this is what you get... the perfect place to cook your cornbread! The batter is actually pretty light and couldn't be easier. In a big mixing bowl, I measured 2 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 1 and 1/2 cups corn meal, a scant half cup sugar, 4 teaspoons of baking powder, and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Mix all the dry ingredients together with a whisk and get ready to add the wet: 2 cups milk (I used 1%, but you can use what you want, or buttermilk...yum!), 2 eggs, and half cup canola oil.Mix the wet and dry together to combine! Now, time to get this party started... add chopped jalapeno and grated cheese! Now, take your cast iron skillet out of the oven and fill with your cornbread batter! In about 25 minutes you'll have a tasty cornbread treat, fit to ride along any meal... chilli, BBQ, soup, or in this case, on it's own! Get creative and add your own special touches to your favorite cornbread!

Clam Chowdah Craving!! HECK YEAH!! Fish Friday!!

So, tonight,on this beautiful, perfect summer night, after a long day of jammin' with ma' bandmates, and summer football practice, we are having some warm creamy delicious clam chowder! So...I've been jones-in' for some good ol' New England Clam Chowder for a while now, so tonight... it's Chowdah' Friday!! So, for delicious clam chowder, we start by prepping our veggies... peel and chop 6 carrots, 6 stalks of celery, chop 2 onions and wash and dice 6 potatoes (I used yukon gold). Now, I'm not usually a "butter" girl... so much fat, no nutrition... but tonight, I was like Paula Deene at a butter convention! YIKES! I added half a stick of butter (4 tablespoons) to a pan and added the chopped veggies (onion, carrots and celery) and sauteed for about 10 minutes. After the veggies saute, add the chopped potatoes, salt and pepper, and half a teaspoon of thyme and mix together on medium heat. Let the potatoes cook for about 10 minutes with the veggies. Next, I added the clam juice from 4 cans of clams (but not the clams.... yet). There wasn't enough liquid to cover the veggies, so I added about 2 cups of chicken stock to the liquid so it would cover the veggies. Let that simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes until the potatoes and veggies are tender! Now to thicken up this chowder, I added ANOTHER HALF STICK OF BUTTER and 1/4 cup of flour to a small pan to cook for a bit. I'm officially disgusted with myself (my bad butter-self), but my longing for tasty chowder is clearly prevailing.... cook the butter and flour for about 2 minutes. Then... After the flour and butter gets bubbly... add about a cup of the liquid (stock) from the soup TO the flour mixture and whisk together.... then, add the flour mixture to the soup! You've basically made a roux with flour and butter, and it will make your chowder thick and rich and super delicious! (Thank you butter) Next I added the 4 cans of clams and mixed in with the chowder! And this is what I got! NOW THAT IS MONEY CHOWDER! I could stop there... but my alter ego, butter loving chowder loving sista went OVER THE TOP!!! That's right... after all that butter, I added... One cup of light cream. That's right, cream... and I'm not apologizing! Now, the way I look at it, I have a lot of butter and cream in that soup, but I also have a lot of veggies and clams in that pot too! Not to mention liquid (stock)... so... I'm eating clam chowder tonight, and I'm OK WITH THAT!!! If you make this chowder, you will understand!! And you might thank me, the clams, the butter, and the cream... just sayin'! Now, how to garnish this delicious creamy piping hot chowder? Fresh baked bread???? Or the ever popular chowder crackers... so crispy, salty, crunchy... and killer good... hmmm... And the winner is.... crackers! YES!!! Have some warm creamy chowder and crispy crunchy crackers too! That's Stevie's way! Happy chowder eaters.... in da' house!!