Week 40 and 41

Typing weeks 40 and 41 panic me a little bit. There are only 11 or 12 weeks left in the year! What?!

Where has my life gone?

While I contemplate who I really am and finish panicking, here is what we've been eating.

So, I'm not so much of a broccoli fan. Unless it is in broccoli cream soup, and let's just be honest. Broccoli cream soup is more about the cream than the broccoli.

So when we got a head of broccoli in our BB, I was on a quest for green greatness. And, my blogging friends, I have found it.

Week 40: Blackened Broccoli
Recipe from Lunges and Lashes, fitness blog by a health guru who happens to be my hair stylist

A bunch of broccoli, chopped into florets
Minced garlic
S &P
Olive Oil

1. Start by putting broccoli and a heaping spoonful of garlic in a bowl.
2. Roll them around in EVOO.
3. Sprinkle with S & P.
4. Broil in oven until blackened, then flip and broil some more. But you don't want them charred, just nicely blackened.


Note: You want the garlic to be all over the broccoli. So how much you use depends on how much broccoli you have. Also, I am not sure if this would work with frozen broccoli.

Rating: 4.5. The roasted garlic had almost a sweet flavor. It made broccoli delicious. And you can never go wrong with garlic.

Sub note: every time we eat broccoli, Jacob tells me how he used to pretend they were trees and he was a dinosaur. (When he was a kid, of course.) This makes me laugh every time.

Week 41: Eggplant Rollatini
Found in Giada's cookbook "Everyday Italian." Online version here.

No photo. Dinner was insanely late that day. 

2 eggplants
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
A few shakes of grated Parmesan cheese
10 basil leaves, chopped
1 cup tomato sauce

1. Preheat the grill pan and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Place a rack over a large baking sheet. Cut the 2 ends off the eggplant. Cut the eggplants lengthwise, into 1/2-inch thick slices. Arrange eggplant slices onto rack. Sprinkle with sea salt to help remove excess moisture and any bitterness from the eggplants. Set aside for about 10 to 15 minutes. Rinse off the salt from the eggplants and pat dry with a towel.
3. Spray hot grill pan liberally with vegetable spray and then place eggplant slices on the grill until lightly browned on each side and tender, about 4 minutes per side. Remove slices from the grill pan and allow to cool.
4. In a large bowl, beat eggs until lightly scrambled. Mix the ricotta in with the egg. Add mozzarella, 3 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese and toasted pine nuts and gently combine. Fold in basil just to combine. Do not overmix.
5. Place a tablespoon of the cheese mixture on 1 end of the eggplant and roll up tightly. Place the eggplant rollatini into a greased (with olive oil) 13 by 9-inch baking dish, seam side down. Continue with remaining eggplant. Evenly distribute the tomato sauce on top of the eggplant rollatini. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with remaining 5 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese and bake for 15 minutes. When cooked, drizzle the top with extra-virgin olive oil.

Rating: 3. It was pretty good. But I won't ever crave it or want to make it again. A lot of work. And I liked the insides better without the eggplant. Maybe I needed to cook it longer?

Week 39: Grilled Chicken with Peach BBQ sauce

With our aforementioned peach overload, we found a great recipe to use peaches for a main dish instead of a traditional dessert. And from Gwyneth Paltrow no less.She's good for more than just guest starring on 'Glee.'

Gwyneth Paltrow's Grilled Chicken with Peach BBQ Sauce
Adapted from Bon Appetit

 Ingredients

• 1 cup chopped peeled fresh peaches or 9-10 ounces frozen sliced peaches, thawed, chopped
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (I love mine from a jar)
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts or 8 chicken tenderloins (our personal favorite)
• Vegetable oil 

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a small saucepan. Season lightly with salt and pepper and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low; simmer until peaches are very soft and flavors meld, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat; let cool. 

2. Pour peach mixture into a blender and purée until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

3. Place half the sauce in a medium bowl; add the chicken and turn to coat. Let marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes, or cover and chill for up to 8 hours, turning occasionally. Cover and refrigerate remaining sauce.

4. Prepare a grill (we use a Foreman) to medium-high heat. Grill chicken until browned and almost cooked through, 4-5 minutes per side. Brush on all sides with reserved sauce; grill until glazed and cooked through, 1-2 minutes per side. Slice crosswise. Serve remaining sauce alongside.

Rating: 4. The chicken really flavorful and moist. But I did not like the sauce on the rice we had as a side. A great mixture of flavors. Not one overpowered the other to create the delicious sauce.

Note: After a long day at work, Jacob made this for me. I didn't lift a finger. Love him.

Week 38: peaches coming out of our ears makes sweet jam

 

We are lucky enough to have a fully mature peach tree.
With the funky weather, the peaches were a bit late this year, but they made up for it by producing big time.
Every day I would go out and pick up bags full of peaches that had just fallen.
Within days we had peaches taking over our kitchen and our lives. Sound dramatic? I have issues with throwing away perfectly good (and FREE!) produce.

So we hunkered down and canned jam.
But a funny thing happened when we turned the bottles over....

Introducing.... levitating jam!
To our shock and amazement, the jam has stuck. In every. single. jar.
And now we have some quirky holiday gifts. Maybe more appropriate for Halloween?
On the positive side, all of the jars sealed perfectly!

I won't bother posting the recipe. Just follow the directions on the box of pectin you purchase. Just prepare yourself with a lot of sugar and a sticky little mess. I would say this is a two-person job.

Rating: 5. Nothing beats homemade jam. While strawberry freezer jam is a Benson favorite, the peach will be just as loved. If you have room in your freezer, freezer jam is easier and quicker.

Note: After a quick plea on facebook for someone to help us with our peach overload, I came home from work the next day to find our tree picked empty. Now I don't feel overwhelming guilt every time I look out of our window. (We really had a lot of peaches.) Ah, the power of social media.

Is there a more beautiful sight?

This yellow flower warms my heart.
We don't have kids.
We don't have a pet.
So we focus on our garden. (and my Toms)


And right now we have 5 little zukes growing.
Ah, summer.

Our garden has really taken off.
I love checking it every day and I am very protective.
So protective, I got after a stranger who was looking under my pot, only to find out he is one of the new tenants downstairs. Well, hello. Nice to meet you. Awkward.


What do you grow in your garden?