Product Testing 101 - Shrimp, Lamb and Rotisserie Chicken and more

It seems I've been noticed in the blogisphere.

Is that even how you spell it?

Blog-is-phere: Blog-a-sphere?

I have been approached to do a product test and asked to:

a. test a product

b. post about it

c. create a giveaway around the product (we're talking free stuff here)

Wow.

At first I was flattered.

Then I was excited.

Then, I was nervous.

Then I was suspicious.

Then, apprehensive.

I don't use "products".

I cook from scratch.

What would this do to my credibility?

What would this do to my culinary senses?

What would this do to my food?

The Best Husband In The World advised me to "go for it". (He's in it for the free stuff)

The Second Son (19 years old) advised me to "not sell out". (He is still on the home dole)

My uppity culinary intellect told me to (in NJ speak) forgetaboutit.

But my curiosity told me "hey, why if and why not?"

So I took on the challenge. I basted and baked and marinated and rotisseried and grilled the hell out of:

The Original Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce

Well and ahem. And I might add, oh my.

I ask you readers - because you are dear to me - do you want to hear about the results?

You should know before you vote [yes or no] I also suggested to the CEO, Country Bob himself, that I would like to interview him for the ultimate post...

Do you care? Do you WANT to hear about products???

I'm not giving it up here... you are my precious readers, my ardent followers, my fellow foodies...

What do you think?

a. Forgetaboutit?

b. Go for it?

c. TELL ME WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED GOOD COOK.

I've done the cooking, the sweating, the basting, the baking, the grilling, the marinating, AND the eating (along with my most trusted taste testers...)

BUT it is up to you...

I await your response.

Diets and Peaches

I started a real fitness program today. No, really I did and that's a good thing. 

Now the bad thing - you knew it was coming, right?

I've posted before about trying to be a locavore - and being more responsible about where my food is coming from.

http://thegoodcooknj.blogspot.com/2009/05/animal-vegetable-miracle-fiddleheads.html

(I'm sorry, I don't know how to paste just the link... anyone? help?)

Anyway, today at the market, there they were... beautiful, slightly soft to the touch with just enough give, fuzzy and glowing... Georgia Peaches... definitely not within the 100 mile radius of my home to get Local Grown Status... 

Definitely does not meet the criteria for a Locavore Dinner of the week... but gosh they are gorgeous and fruit is sooo good for a diet and I love peaches and I could make a really good, low cal dessert with those peaches...

So I bought them. Just a few. Just to tide me over until August when Jersey peaches will be ripe for the picking.. 

Hey, I'm a convert, not a preacher. 

Grilled Peaches: (serves 4)

4 peaches

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

4 teaspoons honey, warmed in microwave for a few seconds

Freshly whipped sweet cream (optional)

Preheat Grill to Medium

Wash peaches. Cut in half and remove pit. 

Place cut side down (skin side up) on hot grill and grill for 4-5 minutes to carmelize. 

Turn and grill 1 or 2 more minutes to warm through. 

While grilling skin side, sprinkle some cinnamon on peaches. 

Remove to plate, drizzle with warm honey.

Serve with a dollop of whipped cream. (I'm skipping the whipped cream)

Also great with vanilla ice cream but I'm not even going there. 

According to my handy dandy food scale the nutritional value is:

peaches: 1 (5 oz) peach (about the size of a tennis ball) = 61 calories

honey: 1 teaspoon = 15 calories

cinnamon: sprinkle = 0

whipped cream sweetened with splenda: 1 tablespoon = 50 calories (for those of you with absolutely no will power) :0)

Don't Blame The Kitchen - Panini's

"Don't blame the kitchen, blame the cook" is an old saying in the culinary crowd. I was reminded of this quote as I navigated my way around my mother's kitchen the past few days. 

Unfamiliar electric stove (gasp!), pots and pans that were not my beloved All-Clad, one set of tongs to choose from, one size whisk, I could go on and on.. but a good cook makes do. And make do I did. 

Cooking times will be different depending on your fuel source (gas or electric). Browning, sauteeing and baking will yield various results depending on your pans - you may have to move things around a bit. 

Perhaps a pantry lacks corn starch - what do you use instead to thicken? (flour, butter or arrowroot) There are always variations and substitutions you can make if you just use your head (and your tastebuds)

Here is a recipe that will work no matter if you grill it indoors or out, use a grill pan or a frying pan, have a panini press or a brick from your patio - the visual results may be a tad different, but the flavor profile will knock your socks off everytime - no matter the tools! 

Chicken Paninis (with lots of variations and options) - makes 1 big or 6 roll size sandwiches

1 loaf ciabatta bread (or 6 medium rolls)

1 pound breast of chicken, pouched and sliced (or 1 pound chicken breast lunchmeat)

1/2 cup pesto (store bought or homemade - recipe follows)

8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced into 6 pieces

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

2 cups arugula

2 tomatoes (red or yellow) sliced (or roasted red pepper slices)

salt and pepper

drizzle of olive oil

Slice the ciabatta loaf through the center to make a big "roll". Or slice and open up the rolls

Spread pesto on inside top and bottom halves

Begin layering with sliced chicken

Top with a few basil leaves

Top with tomatoe slices

Top with arugula

Top with mozzarella cheese

Place the top half of roll on sandwich. Press down to slightly compress sandwich(es)

Preheat outdoor grill to low. OR

Heat frying pan to low OR

Heat indoor grill pan to low OR

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Drizzle a little olive oil in your pan or brush a little olive oil on your grill or directly on the bottom of the bread. Place on hot heat source (stove, oven, grill, pan, etc)

Immediately place a panini press, a brick (covered in foil) or a cookie sheet weighted with canned goods on top. 

Cook, grill, fry, heat for 4-6 minutes. Flip over and do the same for the top, a few less minutes. If you opted to make one big sandwich, slice into serving sizes. Serve warm with chips or fresh fruit (we're having cantalope and strawberries tonight)

There you have it. Lots of options for making a panini without a panini press. No excuses. Like I said, blame the cook, not the kitchen. 

VARIATIONS: Be inventive:

Use Ham & Salami with Roasted Red Peppers

Ham & Brie, Garlic and Honey

Turkey, Sundried Tomatoes and Provolone and Watercress

Salami, Swiss and Olives

Roast Beef, onions, provolone and roasted red and green peppers

The variations are endless. Use your imagination and enjoy!

Homemade Pesto: (with options of course)

2 cups basil packed (or flat leafed parsely) (or sun dried tomatoes)

3/4 cup parmesan cheese (or pecorino romano) grated

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts (or walnuts or almonds)

1 clove garlic

olive oil as needed

salt and pepper

You will need a food processor (or a heavy duty blender). Blend the basil, garlic and cheese together until fine. Add the nuts and continue to process until fine. With processor or blender running, beginning adding olive oil in a thin stream until desired thickness (it should be spreadable, not runny). Salt and Pepper to taste. 

Tip: pesto freezes beautifully. Spoon into small freezable plastic container. Drizzle a thin film of olive oil over top to cover, cover tightly and freeze. This will keep up to 6 months. 

My Favorite Quote and Grilled Lobster

"I did the best that I knew how; when I knew better, I did better" - Maya Angelou

I love this quote. I think it can be applied to so many things in our lives. This being Mother's Day I think it is even more relevant. 

How many of us knock our heads against the wall trying to be "the best mother possible"? How many of us live in regret because of something we did or didn't do with or for our children? 

Well, stop it. Today, right now, stop it. If you love your children. Stop it. You did the best that you knew how.... and when you knew better, you did better. 

Happy Mother's Day - give yourself a present. You are enough. 

Grilled Petite Lobster Tails with Orange and Thyme Scented Butter (serves 4)

8 petite Lobster Tails (about 3 ounces each)

1 stick (8 ounces) unsalted butter

Zest of 1 orange

1 sprig thyme

Pinch Kosher Salt 

Lemon wedges (optional)

Heat the grill to high. 

Place lobster tails (in shell) on grill. Grill 3 to 4 minutes, flip to other side, grill 3 to 4 minutes. Tails will slightly curl. Don't overcook. 

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt butter slowly, add the orange zest and the sprig of thyme. Continue melting the butter until it foams. Stir in pinch salt. Using a small strainer, strain into 4 small cups for dipping lobster. 

I serve the tails with steamed fingerling potatoes tossed with olive oil and sea salt and a small side salad. 

P.S: 

Happy Mother's Day everyone. 

If you are a mother, happy mother's day.

If your mother is still with you, call her today

If your mother is gone, remember something wonderful about her

If you are not a mother, as you go about your business today, wish someone else happy mother's day. 

Have a great one and count your blessings.

Fun With Food and Chicken Skewers

The best husband in the world gave me a food scale for my birthday. Hoopdeedoo! Well, to be fair, he gave me a food scale AND a juicer. For some of you out there this would mean immediate expulsion from the best husband in the world club. But don't be judging the BHITW, because this is exactly what I wanted. 

It's not just any food scale. It is a new and improved nutritional food scale. 

Commercial quality with 8.8 pound capacity. 

Able to measure food in grams, kilograms and ounces. But wait, there's more. You can get the exact nutritional information of the food you are weighing, unlike my other old food scale that just weighed stuff. 

For instance, I have here an avocado. Just your plain, everyday Haas variety. When I put it on my old food scale I am told it weighs 7.5 ounces. When I put it on my new and improved nutritional food scale I am told:

Weight: 7.5 ounces

Enter the code for avocado: 334 and voila!

Calories: 375

Sodium: 25.73 mg

Fiber: 0

Cholesterol: 0

Protein: 4.89 grams

Carbohydrates: 14.71 grams

Fat: 36.76 grams

Oh Joy! Oh Rapture!  Wait, let's try a lemon.

Weight: 4.2 ounces

Enter the code for lemon: 359

Calories: 36

Sodium: 2.16 mg

Fiber: 2.0 grams

Cholesterol: 0

Protein: 2.16 grams

Carbohydrates: 10.86 grams

Fat: 0 grams

Imagine the possibilities!! No more guessing. No more cumbersome books and indexes. Who knew a food scale could be so much fun! Here's the skinny on tonight's dinner of 

Grilled Lemon Chicken Kabobs with minted sugar snap peas and tri-color couscous (serves 4)

1 Pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 4 half breasts)

3 tablespoons (about) extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Juice of 1  fresh lemon (remember what I told you about that bottled stuff)

2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped

Kosher Salt

Freshly ground pepper

2 cups fresh sugar snap peas, washed and ends trimmed

Heat grill to medium-high.

Cut the chicken breasts into 1 inch cubes. Place in a bowl and drizzle about 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1/2 the lemon juice over. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Let marinate 15 or so minutes. Not too long or the chicken will start to "cook" from the lemon juice. Thread onto skewers.  Grill for about 10 minutes until done. (hint: leave a little space between pieces of chicken for even cooking).

Meanwhile, steam the sugar snap peas. Toss with remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, lemon zest, rest of juice, salt, pepper (to taste) and chopped mint. 

Serve with a side of tri-color couscous made to package directions. 

Okay, here's the fun part:

4 ounces of chicken, 1/2 cup of the peas and 1/2 cup couscous:

547 calories

13.8 grams of fat

48 grams of protein

84 grams of carbohydrates

5.1 grams of fiber

*** I am NOT a registered dietician or a nutritionist - I am a serial dieter. 

At least I think that's what it all adds up to. The new and improved nutritional food scale did not come with a calculator and after 1 1/2 hours of trying to figure this out I'm tempted to just order pizza. 

Oh bother, I really just wanted it to weigh flour which is what my old food scale did. 

Tomorrow: LET THE JUICING BEGIN!! 

Talking Turkey

My husband asked me if I was going to blogviate today. As so often happens when we're speaking, I had no idea what he was talking about. Let me explain. My husband, whom I love dearly, likes to coin his own words. He patiently explained to me that blogviate was his version of "bloviate"; which didn't help me at all. So I looked up bloviate in the dictionary that is my constant companion since marrying this unique guy so long ago. Playing Scrabble with him is a real treat, but that's a whole different blog. Surprisingly, my New World Dictionary Of The American Language (2nd. college edition) did not list bloviate. So I turned to the Internet. 

Bloviate: (according to Wikipedia)

"To bloviate means "to speak pompously and excessively" or "to expound ridiculously". A colloquial verb coined in the United States, it is commonly used with contempt to describe the behavior of politicians, academics, pundits or media "experts," sometimes called bloviators, who hold forth on subjects in an arrogant, tiresome way.

The current verb 'bloviate' seems to be regarded as a back-formation from the noun blowhard.
The Oxford English Dictionary indicates that bloviate derives from adding a faux-Latin ending to the verb 'to blow' or boast, following a 19th-century fad of adding Latin-like affixes to ordinary words. However, others like William Safire claim that 'bloviate' comes from combining the words 'blow-hard' and 'deviation.'

Although 'bloviate' is listed in slang dictionaries as far back as the 19th century, the term was popularized by United States President Warren G. Harding in the 1920s. Famed for his poor English usage, Harding often used the word to describe his own speaking style. The term dropped from popular usage following his presidency but was resurrected in the 1960s when it was sometimes used in reference to Harding.

It became widely spoken again in the 1990s. Today, it appears regularly in The New York Times, The New Yorker and The Washington Post.

The term is used frequently by Fox News commentator, Bill O'Reilly whose show, The O'Reilly Factor, concludes with requests for email. The request for feedback sometimes includes: "And please when writing to us no bloviating, [that's] my job."

'Bloviating' has taken on new life in the blogosphere, used derisively to identify and otherwise chide the most pompous of contributors to message boards and forums."

Oh my - is that what I have been doing?? Bloviating on my blog? Does that make me a blogviator? Yes, my beloved assured me - although not as much as some. He said he was just giving it to me straight, "talking turkey". Which reminded me of the following recipe: 

Teriyaki Turkey Tenderloin (that's an alliteration by the way, which by telling you this makes me a bloviator or is it blogviator?...)

Two (2) Turkey breast tenderloins (about 1 1/2 pounds)

1/2 cup teriyaki sauce

1 teaspoon ground ginger (or a nub of fresh, sliced thin)

2 garlic cloves smashed

1/4 cup pineapple juice

Cut your tenderloins into 1 inch cubes. Toss with all above ingredients. Place in ziplock bag and marinade in refrigerator for at least 45 minutes and up to 4 hours. 

Preheat grill to high. Skewer turkey tenderloin cubes. Grill until done, about 12-15 minutes, giving quarter turns every 4 minutes and basting first 3 turns. Discard any unused marinade. 

I like to serve this with grilled pineapple rings (brush with butter and melted brown sugar) grill lightly) and simple steamed white rice. 

Enjoy and try not to bloviate with your mouth full. 

Tuna Steaks with Roasted Cipolline Onions

I keep getting fooled by Mother Nature. This morning it was snow flurrying on Holly Bear and I at the dog park. Brr... Everyday I look out my kitchen window promising the grill we will get reacquainted only to be foiled by nature. 

Tonight I think I'll fight back with a little comfort food (for my spring cold) and a little bit of spring by grilling indoors. I adapted this recipe from an original by Giada De Laurentiis. (who I secretly hate because she weighs 1 1/2 pounds fully dressed).

Roasted Cipolline Onions:(chip-o-lean-ee)

1 pound cipolline onions- skins removed. (to easily remove skins, drop in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes. cool. The skins will slip right off)

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Whisk it all together, coat onions, put in a small oven proof casserole and roast at 450 degrees for about 30 minutes(uncovered). You will know they are done when they are soft and the balsamic vinegar has reduced to a syrup stage. Salt & Pepper to taste.

Tuna Steaks: (enough for 4 people)

2 tuna steaks (about 1/2 pound each)

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 T lemon juice (don't make me say it... FRESH SQUEEZED.. throw that bottle out)

2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt, few grinds fresh black pepper. 

Whisk everything together, place tuna steaks in marinade, turning to coat and let rest for about 5 minutes per side.

Now the comfort food part:

Polenta with wilted arugula (you could also use spinach or blanched asparagus tips)

2 cups chicken broth (low salt)

2 cups water

3/4 cup polenta (quick cooking)

1 clove minced garlic

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, finely grated

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1/4 cup heavy cream (I told you this was comfort food)

2 cups fresh arugula - rough chopped

Heat the broth and water to simmering. Slowing whisk in the polenta (your Italian grandmother will tell you that you have to stir in only one direction). Continue to cook until thick and smooth - about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic. Stir. Add the cheese. Stir. Add the butter and cream and stir until butter is melted. Stir in the arugula. Season to taste with salt and pepper (easy on the salt - remember to taste because the cheese will add salt).

Back to the tuna:

Preheat your grill pan to medium high. Remove tuna steaks from marinade and grill about 3 minutes per side for medium. Cut the steaks in half. Plate - spoon the onions and balsamic sauce over. Pass the polenta. 

Take that Mother Nature.