Two Happy Bellies

Grilled Sirloin with Anchovy-Lemon Butter and Broccoli Rabe

New grill + sirloin steak for our 1/8th of a cow + Super Fast 20 Minute Cooking recipe = Dinner Monday night and leftovers for Tuesday. Tracy eyed this recipe in the March Cooking Light issue. Under the heading of Super Fast 20 Minute Cooking we thought this would be a good one to try on a week day night. This was an easy recipe to make but that 20 minutes does not include the time it takes to gather, measure out or prep all ingredients. From pulling stuff out of the fridge to dinner plate on the table was really about 45 minutes and still not bad for a work night.

Verdict- I love anchovies so this recipe was up my alley. The combination of butter, lemon, and the anchovy paste could be delicious on just about any meat, not just this grilled sirloin. How was the broccoli rabe? Well… I think this was my first time to be exposed to rabe so my judgment might not be the best. I found them to be bitter. I think I would make this again but substitute the rabe for spinach or some other green. Tracy, on the other hand, loved it just the way it was.

Pesto Rice

As mentioned in yesterday's post, we made some pesto rice to go with our chicken. I'm not sure there is even a recipe in this rambling of mine, but if you'd like to try it, this sure is tasty.

Heat 1 T. of olive oil in your skillet, then add 1 C. of rice (we prefer brown) and saute until the rice is starting to turn translucent. Add 1 1/2 C. chicken broth and bring to a boil. Put a lid on top, turn down to simmer, and simmer until rice is done. After rice has finished cooking, stir in 3 or so tablespoons of pesto and let sit for 5 minutes. Serve.

Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Pesto Butter

Still trying to use up pesto in the house, we adapted a recipe from Don't Panic -- Dinner's in the Freezer (9780800730550).

The authors actually make homemade pesto as part of the recipe, which is great - we do the same. Problem is we're trying to use up already made pesto and just had to guess how much prepared pesto equals their original ingredients. Not sure we guessed correctly, but it worked. Because we made a "half" recipe, I'm just going to describe what we did, rather than give you the recipe as written.

I mixed a generous dollop of pesto with 4 T. of softened butter, made a rectangle, then chilled that until firm.

Next, Aaron pounded three chicken breasts until flat, and passed them off to me. I placed 1/3 of our pesto butter stick inside each breast, wrapped it like an envelope, and flour'd/egg'd/panko'd the breast. Then it was back to Aaron to put in the skillet that had been heating some butter and olive oil.

After they hung out in the skillet for about 15 minutes, turning to brown on all sides, they went into a greased baking dish and baked at 350 degrees for another 45 minutes (or until meat is white all the way through).

We served these lovely chicken breasts with pesto rice (another attempt to use up pesto) and sauteed asparagus.

I'd definitely eat these again!

Split Pea Soup

I haven't had split pea soup in years, my aunt used to make a wonderful one however my cousin no longer remembers the recipe as her husband doesn't like it. Virginia Willis shares another tasty recipe from Basic to Brilliant, Y'all (9781607740094) and now I can once again enjoy Split Pea Soup.

• 2 T. canola oil
• 2 sweet onions, chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, very finely chopped
• 8 C. chicken stock (preferably homemade)
• 1 1/4 C. green split peas, rinsed
• coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• bouquet garni (3 sprigs flat-leaf parsley; 2 sprigs thyme; 1 bay leaf; 1 T. whole black peppercorns tied in cheesecloth)
• 1 ham hock or hambone (optional)

Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and carrot; saute until the vegetables begin to soften (4 to 6 minutes). Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 45 to 60 seconds. Add the chicken stock and split peas; season with salt and pepper. Add the bouquet garni and hambone (if using). Bring to a boil; then decrease the heat to simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the peas are tender, about 1 hour. Taste and adjust seasonings. Ladle into warmed bowls and serve immediately.

This was her "basic" recipe. Moving it up to "brilliant" she suggest adding Deviled Ham Garlic Toasts. While we did not take the soup up to this level, I look forward to trying this next time.

Cheese Ravioli in Pesto-Tomato Broth

We needed to use up some pesto we had in the fridge and this recipe had caught our eye so we made soup not too long ago. An easy recipe, the only changes we made were to use zucchini (instead of yellow squash as that is what we had) and to add more pesto (we felt it didn't have any pesto flavor as is).

• 28 oz. (or so) chicken broth - we used 4 cups homemade
• 9 oz. pkg cheese ravioli
• 14.5 oz. diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/4 C. pesto (which we upped by generous spoonfuls in our bowls)
• 2 C. squash cubed
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/4 t. pepper

Bring broth to a boil in a large saucepan. Add all remaining ingredients; reduce heat, simmer 8-10 minutes. Makes four servings.

We would probably make this again if we were trying to use up ingredients sitting around. I would not go out and buy the stuff just to make this . . .

Carmelized Onion Grilled Cheese

Originally we planned on grilling out last night (on our new grill purchased because of some crazy birds who do have at least one egg in their nest). However, while the grill has been bought, it is in the process of being built so we had to go to plan B for dinner. Plan B was fantabulous!

We still had some tasty sourdough bread left from Panera, as well as that wonderful white farmhouse cheddar. We sauteed up some onion and splashed it with some balsamic vinegar. Then Aaron layered the cheese and onion on the bread which had been brushed with melted butter. He threw those on to our panini press and about 6 minutes later dinner was served.

We ate these with a fresh fruit salad and enjoyed a light dinner. Yum!

ABC Grilled Cheese

Inspired by this tasty sandwich, and a passing comment by someone about Apple Bacon Cheddar sandwiches, Aaron made this to celebrate National Grilled Cheese Day.

He bought some lovely sourdough bread from Panera and had them slice it. Melting some butter, he brushed one side of each of four slices with the butter. Then he thinly sliced a Granny Smith apple and some white farmhouse cheddar, while cooking up four slices of pepper'd bacon. Once our sandwiches were layered (bread, apple, cheese, bacon, bread) he placed them in our panini press and cooked them for about 6 or 7 minutes on medium. We served it right away with a simple salad and the rest of the apple.

Since the cat and dog both got a tiny little bite as well, there are four happy bellies in this house tonight.

I hope you enjoyed this look into our National Grilled Cheese Day Celebration. Don't forget though - the entire month of April does celebrate the Grilled Cheese - there just might be some other tasty variations in our near future (not that I ever need an excuse to enjoy grilled cheese)!

National Grilled Cheese Day!

While the entire month of April celebrates Grilled Cheese . . . today is National Grilled Cheese Day. What tastiness do you have planned?

Shaffer Farm's Texas Bar-B-Q

Part two of our food adventure this past weekend involved lunch at Shaffer Farm's Texas Bar-B-Q. This place combines an actual butcher shop (and they know what tri-tip is!) with a restaurant serving true Texas style BBQ. With hilarious seating:

and fun tables (that spin . . .) we thoroughly enjoyed eating lunch here.

We were able to sample a few tastes before placing our order and everything was fabulous. We ended up with a Brisket plate (sides of white beans and ranch potatoes) and a Ribs and Wings plate (sides of baked beans and ranch potatoes). Both came with hot pickled peppers (yum!), pickles, onions, and corn pancakes. We also had fresh lemonade and a buttermilk pie. Leftovers did come home with us.

Next time we go back? We're taking the cooler so we can stock up on some perishables to go with the non-perishable items we bought: jalapeno beef jerky, spicy pickled hotdogs (?), and peach jalapeno jam.

Meridee's Breadbasket

This past weekend, Aaron surprised me with an adventure. The first stop on the food portion of the adventure was Meridee's Breadbasket, a local experience I had not yet had.

While I meant to order the egg and cheese on ham biscuit, I forgot to say ham so I ended up with egg and cheese on biscuit. The biscuit fell apart with every bite and was absolutely scrumptious. However, I do want to go back and order it on the ham biscuit next time. Apparently they add ham to the biscuit dough and it sounds delightful.

Aaron ordered a sausage biscuit and we both had sides of hash brown casserole.

We also picked up a few items on our way out: a raspberry scone, a cinnamon roll, and a Viking stick. Unfortunately we were coffee'd out by the time we got there so I did not get to taste their coffee. But we will go back!