Warm Goat Cheese Salad

Ina Garten does this fried goat cheese.. and its delicious. So I took her recipe and added my own salad ingredients.. it turned out awesome! I served this with grilled chicken breast. I only did 4 fried goat cheese cubes, so you'll have to adjust the recipe to your family size.

Fried Goat Cheese:
Seasoned dry bread crumbs. I use a mixture of dry seasoned bread crumbs and panko bread crumbs. I like the texture this creates.
1 egg, beaten
sliced goat cheese, about 1/2 inch thick, well refrigerated.
1 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. butter
Dip the sliced cheese in the egg. Remove and roll in bread crumbs. Put on a rack and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
Heat olive oil and butter in a skillet to medium-medium high, until just under smoking. Add the goat cheese and cook each one quickly, until browned on outside, but not melted on inside. Remove and drain.
For the salad I grilled red peppers, onions and asparagus. I arranged the salad using baby spinach, but mixed greens would be better I think. I made a dressing using olive oil and lemon juice, salt and pepper. This was very easy and very good for our hot, California summer nights!

chicken salad

4 split (2 whole) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on

2 tbs. olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good mayonnaise

1 tbs. whole grain Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves
1 cup small-diced celery (2 stalks)
1 cup green grapes, cut in 1/2

1/2 cup toasted, sliced almonds

*and a note: If my husband wasn't allergic to onions, I would have thrown in a green onion or two..

It is so easy to make this salad using either regular boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or canned chicken. I'll tell ya though.. the roasted chicken adds a whole world of flavor.. you will never get that from canned or boneless/skinless chicken. It's well worth it, I promise.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the chicken breasts, skin side up, on a sheet pan and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Set aside until cool.
When the chicken is cool, remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin and bones. Cut the chicken into a 3/4-inch dice. Place the chicken in a bowl; add the mayonnaise, Dijon, tarragon leaves, celery, grapes, almonds, 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and toss well.

adapted recipe from Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa, Food Network

warm dijon potato salad with green beans

I regret that I don't have a picture of this really, really great potato salad. We made it for Memorial Day weekend to go with ribs. I couldn't get my camera out fast enough... but try it, its delicious.. and its great cold too. Thanks again and again and again Aubrey.. I wonder why I gain weight when I visit you...

3 pounds Yukon or baby white potatoes
1 pound green beans, trimmed
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons whole grain Dijon mustard
1 shallot minced
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
30 grinds black pepper
1/3 cup packed finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Directions
Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water by at least a couple inches. Salt the water generously, bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are fork tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water.
Bring another pot of salted water to a boil and throw the beans in just for a minute or two until they turn bright green. Strain them and run them under cold water to stop the beans from cooking.
In a mixing bowl combine the remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth.
Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise and then into roughly 1 inch chunks. Cut beans in half. Toss the potato chunks in the dressing and then toss in the green beans and the parsley.
recipe courtesy Dave Lieberman, Food Network

chick pea dip

I spent Memorial Day weekend in San Diego with one of my favorite people, Aubrey. We love to cook, share recipes.. and go to the beach. We did plenty of both. This is a bikini friendly version of hummus, without the Tahini. As much as I love Tahini.. did you know it has, like 200 calories per tablespoon? Considering I can eat hummus with a spoon.. this is bad for the thighs. This recipe is just plain delicious... Thanks Aubrey!

1 can chick peas (garbanzo beans) drained, rinsed
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 cloves garlic
5-7 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped from stems
course salt and freshly ground pepper
a few drops hot sauce, to taste (I use Frank's Red Hot)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
dipper ideas: pretzels, gourmet chips, red bell pepper, cucumber,
celery, any veggie you like

Combine the chick peas, garlic, lemon zest and juice, thyme, salt and pepper and hot sauce in food processor. Turn processor on and stream in the extra-virgin olive oil. Transfer the dip t0 a dish and surround with veggies and chips.
this recipe was adapted from a Rachael Ray recipe.

menu #6

monday: brown rice salad
cole slaw
guacamole/chips/salsa

tuesday: zucchini strand spaghetti (with basil oil)
garlic bread

wednesday: spring panzanella

thursday: chicken caesar salad

friday: bbq pork on a bun
onion rings

15 minute fruit cobbler

It's been in the upper 90's here in California where I live.. whew! Last night I was trying to figure out something yummy to make for a quick desert.. I had some fresh cherries that I had picked up at a church fundraiser, and I had some frozen blueberries. I didnt have a lot of butter, so I was having a hard time finding a crust recipe. I had originally wanted to make some hand pies.. Anyway, after reading a few different recipes I came up with this. And it was really good. Only took me 15 minutes, and was just enough for us. I have a small family and always hate to have a trough of leftovers that don't get eaten. You could easily double this recipe. It was just enough for about 4 servings of 1/2 cup each. I topped it with vanilla ice cream and I my 20 month old daughter rolled her eyes, threw her head back and yelled "NUMMMMMEY!"

1 1/2 c. fruit. I used fresh, pitted and halved cherries, and frozen blueberries. about equal parts each
1/4 c. sugar
2 tbs. flour
dash of cinnamon
Preheat oven 400 degrees. In a saucepan, combine and cook on med-low heat until warm and bubbly and fruit has thickened. Remove from heat and set aside.

3/4 c. Bisquick
2 tbs. sugar
1/2 ts. cinnamon
3 tbs. milk
2 tbs butter, softened.
Combine all ingredients and mix until dough starts to form.
Pour fruit into a casserole dish. I did not grease mine. Top with dollops of dough, covering fruit as much as possible.
Place in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes, or until top is just browning. Serve warm, with ice cream.

pizza crust (from scratch!)

I did it! I did it! i finally made a good pizza crust - without the help of boboli or pilsbury!
i have been experimenting with some different recipes and different food blogs' techniques.
one site especially, smitten kitchen - she gave some great advice on her pizza dough. i think i have told you before, that i am not a baker. but i am realizing i want to be! pizza crust was one of those things that i was bound and determined to get right. i had absolutely no idea what dough should feel like, or not feel like. except that all of the recipes i have tried before turned out small, cause i couldn't get the dough to roll out - and they turned out puffy. so i guess i would tell you, if you have no point of reference as to what a dough should be, if a dough won't roll out - it's not right. if a dough won't stretch when you pull on it, it's not right.
follow her advice and you will get it right, just like i did!!
read below - and this recipe is all hers... my notes are italicized and bold
the picture below is my creation :)

Really Simple Pizza Dough
Makes enough for one small, thin crust pizza. Double it if you like your pizza thick and bready.
1 1/2 cups flour (can replace up to half of this with whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water (may need up to 1 or 2 tablespoons more)
1 tablespoon olive oil

Stir dry ingredients, including yeast, in a large bowl. Add water and olive oil, stirring mixture into as close to a ball as you can. Dump all clumps and floury bits onto a lightly floured surface and knead everything into a homogeneous ball.
(here's the great advice...) If you are finding this step difficult, one of the best tricks I picked up from my bread-making class is to simply pause. Leave the dough in a lightly-floured spot, put the empty bowl upside-down on top of it and come back in 2 to 5 minutes, at which point you will find the dough a lot more lovable.

Knead it for just a minute or two. Lightly oil the bowl (a spritz of cooking spray perfectly does the trick) where you had mixed it — one-bowl recipe! — dump the dough in, turn it over so all sides are coated, cover it in plastic wrap and leave it undisturbed for an hour or two, until it has doubled in size.

Dump it back on the floured counter (yup, I leave mine messy), and gently press the air out of the dough with the palm of your hands. Fold the piece into an approximate ball shape, and let it sit under that plastic wrap for 20 more minutes.

Sprinkle a pizza stone or baking sheet with cornmeal and preheat your oven to its top temperature. (my sister, elisabeth, also recommended cranking your oven to the very hottest setting - and i am now a believer!) Roll out the pizza, (i rolled out my dough on the counter and when i went to pull it off, it stuck to the counter. so i did as she suggested, i covered it back up with the plastic wrap, made my pizza sauce, came back, and it was as soft as ever! i was so happy!) toss on whatever topping and seasonings you like. (I always err on the side of skimpy with toppings so to not weight down the dough too much, or if I have multiple toppings, to keep them very thinly sliced.)

Bake it for about 10 minutes until it’s lightly blistered and impossible to resist.