Lexington-style Grilled Chicken

This recipe calls for a whole chicken but I had chicken drumsticks which I used and turned out great. The red pepper gives it a serious kick which I liked but I warn if serving kids! oh, and I obviously divided this for just us two. recipe makes 8-10 servings. 2 c. Cider vinegar 1/4 c. Firmly packed dark brown sugar 1/4 c. Vegetable oil 3 Tbsp dried crushed red pepper 4 tsp salt 2 tsp pepper 2 (2 1/2 - 3 lb) cut-up whole chickens Stir together first 6 ingredients until blended. Place half each of vinegar mixture and chicken in a large ziplock, seal. Repeat in separate bag. Chill 2-8 hrs, turning occasionally. Remove chicken from marinade discarding marinade. Grill chicken, covered with grill lid, over medium-high heat 35-40 minutes or until done, turning occasionally

Cilantro-Garlic Sirloin with Zesty Corn Salsa

To make It easier to find what recipes I've posted I'll forego creative post titles. Time sure has been flying by it's amazing how fast a week can fly by despite waking up at 5 am EVERYDAY. That's right, my dear, sweet Costigan no longer is interested in sleeping in, it's quite unfortunate really. So, outside we go. My poor neighbors who see me walk the nieghborhood in glasses, pjs, & bedhead. What's a girl to do. I'll blame sleep deprivation on all the destruction I've been causing lately. If I'm not banging up the car (or both) I'm breaking my phone or putting holes in freshly painted walls! The holes in my clothes....well that's Costigan's fault, I won't take thAt one. Moving on...I keep our freezer pretty stocked and with jon's recent purchase of 50 lbs of pork, we are pushed to the brim (in both freezers!). So I'm going thru the books for new recipes and came across this one in Southern Living All-Time Favorites. I get a great sense of relief whenever I come across a recipe and I already have every ingredient. We really enjoyed this although sirloin is such a fatty piece of meat, I think substituting it with flank steak would work great. 1 c. Fresh cilantro 2 garlic cloves 3 Tbsp lime juice 1 Tbsp lime zest (I hate getting the zest out, so I cut this) 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp cumin 1/4 - 1/2 tsp ground red pepper 2 lbs sirloin steak Process first 7 ingredients in a food processor until blended, rub over steak. Chill 2 hours. Grill, covered, over medium-high heat 10-12 minutes on each side. Let stand 10 minutes. Cut diagonally into thin slices. Serve with corn salsa and garnish with cilantro if desired. For the salsa: 6 ears of corn, husk removed 1/4 c. Lime juice 2 tsp olive oil 1/2 tsp lime zest (you know how I feel) 1 small jalapeño pepper, minced 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp ground cumin Grill corn, covered with grill lid, over medium-high heat 10 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove from grill, cool. Cut corn from cob into a bowl; stir in juice and remaining ingredients. Best thing about this recipe...we had lots of leftovers and for dinner the following night were able to pay homage to Chipotle with homemade burrito bowls!!!!

Italian pasta salad

So Jon and I had a pretty great weekend. All started Friday watching the lil nugget Maeve who we love. Saturday we had a date night, dinner at Seabar (which was excellent) followed by Memphis at Shea's. This was only Jon's second musical and he was not a fan of the first so I was a little nervous but it was excellent and we both enjoyed it. Looks like I get to go to more musicals, wahoo! So Sunday we had some of my work friends over for BBQ do Costigan could play with my friends' puppy. It was very fun and Costigan was wiped afterward! We just did burgers but I also made and italian pasta salad from southern living which was good. I'm sitting around in court waiting on attorneys so I'll share now, it's easy so I don't think I'll leave anything out. I did spiral noodles; 2 jars of artichoke hearts, quartered with juice; kalamata olive; 8 oz mozzarella, cubed, shaved Parmesan; fresh basil; 1/2 c Italian dressing; salami cut into strips; and roasted red peppers cut into stripes. Think I'll have some cooking time this week so hopefully more updates soon!

Bad Blogger

Yes it's official, I'm a bad blogger. It's karma really for the grief I gave others for not updating their own blogs as frequently as my liking. What am good at...excuses! And I happen to have several excuses for my lack in updates. First, as I've said before, I haven't been cooking much. With the onset of summer weather jon and I have taken that as an opportunity to eat horribly. We've been so busy so it's been all about data, grilling and booze. Which then leads to worse food. (cheeseburger brunch anyone?). Second, my laptop is broken so I have no way of uploading photos. I'm big on photos so if anyone figures out how to upload photos onto here directly from your iPhone I would love to know. And finally, my dog, my love, my sweet baby Costigan is very time consuming. Exhausting sometimes. While I could share lots of stories about him I know my audience and it isn't dog friendly. So instead I give my sincere apologies.

And puppy makes 3...

Yes, we got a dog. Welcome to the Lilley family my sweet pup pup Costigan. I am totally in love with my new pup though I must admit we are struggling with some things, mainly accidents and nipping. Jon really dislikes the ankle biting an I'm certainly not a fan either. But seeing as how our sweet pup is only 9 weeks old and has only been with us for a week and a half, we're a work in progress! Hopefully as we get accustomed to our new routine and Costigan gets used to his home, I'll be able to start cooking dinner again! (and get back to the gym, deadly combo)

Easter Feast

I miss spending Easter in Siesta Key, preferably in the midst of a two week vacation. But seeing as how that won't be happening anytime soon, we did the next best thing...a nice feast. It was a quiet group for dinner, just Michelle, myself, and the Daley's. Because of that, we decided let's go all out. The plan was to have dinner at the Daley's and Kate cook but due to some home repairs dinner moved to my house and I took point on cooking. To begin....

Cape cod chopped salad

To include bacon, arugula, diced granny smith apple, toasted walnut halves, dried cranberries, & crumbled blue cheese

For the dressing: 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp grated orange zest, 2 Tbsp fresh squeeze orange juice, 2 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard, 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 2/3 c. Olive oil

Sides included twice baked potatoes and....

Pan-roasted root vegetables

4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 white turnip, unpeeled & 1 inch diced
2 carrots, 1 inch diced
2 small parsnips, peeled & 1 inch diced
1/2 celery root, peeled & 1 inch diced
8 Brussels sprouts, halved
4 fresh thyme sprigs
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
2 celery ribs, 1 inch diced

Melt the butter in a large sauté pan with tight fitting lid. When melted, add turnip, carrots, parsnips, celery root, Brussels sprouts, thyme, salt, pepper and toss with butter. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Add the celery and stir. Cover and continue to cook for another 5 minutes, until tender.

And for the peace de resistance...Rack of Lamb with Mustard-bread Crumb Crust, a recipe from William Sonoma Steak & Chop

2 racks of lamb (serves 4-6)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 c dried bread crumbs
2 tsp finely chopped rosemary
2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 c olive oil
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

Season lamb w/salt & pepper & let sit at room temperature for 15-60 minutes. Preheat 450

In large oven proof pan over med-high heat, heat olive oil. Add racks fat side down. Sear until golden brown on all sides, about 2 min each. When browned, transfer to platter and set to cool reserving pan.

To make crust, in bowl, combine the bread crumbs, rosemary, & garlic powder and mix well. Add olive oil until bread crumbs have feel of wet sand. Using spatula, spread mustard over meat excluding bones. Then pack the bread crumb mixture over the mustard.

Return racks to pan and roast in oven until 130 degrees, 12-15 minutes. Transfer to carving board, rest with loosely tented foil for 5-10 minutes before serving.

And for dessert, this had me sweating....French Apple Tart from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics. I am not a baker and though it was pretty all the time, the end product looked great and tasted pretty good too!

For pastry:

2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
12 Tbsp unsalted butter, diced
1/2 c ice water

Place flour, salt, & sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse for a few seconds, add butter and pulse 10-12 times until butter is in small bits. With motor running, pour water down feed tube and pulse just until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto floured board and knead quickly into ball. Wrap in plastic & refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat over to 400, line sheet pan with parchment paper

Roll dough slightly larger than 10x14 inches, trim edges. Place on pan.

For Apples

3-4 granny smith apples
1/2 c sugar
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, small diced
1/2 c apricot jelly
2 Tbsp Calvados, rum, or water

Peel the apples & cut them in half through stem. Remove the stems and cores. Slice apples crosswise in 1/4-inch thick. Place overlapping slices of apples diagonally down the middle of tart and continue making diagonal rows on both sides until pastry is covered with apple slices. Sprinkle with sugar and dot with butter.

Bake for 45 min to hour until pastry browned. Rotate pan once while baking.

When tarts done, heat jelly and water together and brush the apples and pastry completely with mixture

Excited Again

So I was just going through some cookbooks trying to plan Easter dinner and I must say, I'm excited about cooking again. I really do love to cook and love trying new recipes out but it's hard working nights. But I'm inspired again so hopefully good meals to come! Only problem, Jon is headed out of town tomorrow for 10 days...so who wants to come over and let me cook for them?

Ive been meaning to share a recipe I recently cooked which I got from Better Homes and Gardens. With summer approaching it's a good time to eat healthy. This is great over some brown rice, even left Jon saying he now favors tilapia over salmon, a realization I wish he had years ago to save me some cash!

Thai-Style Fish and Vegetables

4 6 oz fresh or frozen skinless cod, tilapia, or other fish fillet
1 red pepper, cut into thin strips
1 c. 2-inch pieces trimmed fresh asparagus or green beans
1 medium carrot, cut into thin strips
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
3/4 c. Light coconut milk
2 tsp. Fish sauce or soy sauce
1 tsp. Grated fresh ginger or 1/2 tsp. Ground ginger
1/8 to 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
2 Tbsp chopped peanuts
1 Tbsp snipped fresh cilantro

Thaw fish if frozen. Rinse, pat dry

Fill a 12-inch skillet with 1 inch of water. Bring water to boil, reduce heat. Arrange pepper, asparagus/beans, and carrot on steamer basket. Place fish on top of vegetables. Sprinkle fish and vegetables with salt and pepper. Place steamer over simmering water. Cover and simmer 6-8 minutes or until fish begins to flake

For sauce: in small saucepan combine coconut milk, lime juice, soy/fish sauce, ginger, and crushed pepper. Bring to boil, reduce heat. Boil gently uncovered for 2-4 minutes, or until slightly thickened.

Remove fish and vegetables to serving plates, drizzle with sauce and sprinkle with peanuts and cilantro.