Cherry ginger chicken - WHB
I find myself in the unlikely predicament of wanting to eat bland food. Cereal and milk with berries, yogurt with berries, a handful of cherries, red tea…just the usual standbys but that’s all I want to eat. I had surgery last week and although I’m on the mend after a week of resting it seems as though my sense of taste, smell, and texture is totally different now.
Salad still sounds good, and boring…same old, chicken breast is appealing to me. I dressed it up with a marinade of ginger juice, olive oil, lime juice, a garlic clove, a few dashes of chili oil and a couple of handfuls of pitted cherries. That might seem wild to you but really for me this is kind of tame. It did turn out well though. The cherries colored the pale chicken pinkish and the grill caramelized some of the sugars from the ingredients. Served next to a bed of fresh seasonal lettuces from our CSA share, some chevre, and a balsamic, olive oil vinaigrette…it was totally edible and GH gave it two thumbs way up.
Cherry Ginger Chicken
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 cup of pitted sweet cherries
2 teaspoons ginger juice
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 garlic clove
a few dashes of chili oil
salt
Put all of this in a blender and pulse until it is well mixed but the cherries should not be pureed. Marinate the chicken in this for an hour or two and then grill over a hot flame (450F) turning as necessary to get the right carmelization.
This post is a part of Kayln’s Weekend Herb Blogging hosted this week by Rachel at Rachel’s Bite. Head on over there and check out her blog, she just recently returned from a cruise and ate quite well.
What do you eat that is kinda bland and boring?
Panna cotta with caramel sauce
I’ve always adored panna cotta. I know there are those who say it is too bland, others claim that it’s culinary star is tarnished and out-of-date. Could that be because it is so simple, straightforward, and pleasing to the cook and the diner? At any rate I pfftt the naysayers! Yes, pfftt is a legitimate sentiment…not quite as girly as pooh pooh…think Cloris Leachman as Frau Blücher in Young Frankenstein.
Ok…back to the panna cotta…I added caramel sauce because all the gentlemen in this house are really into caramel. Did you notice the lovely cardamom sable sitting there on the side looking up so coyly? She certainly matched up nicely with the panna cotta and caramel…a lush dessert, so decadent all in one bite!
The caramel sauce comes from Elise Bauer at Simply Recipes. It’s an easy and perfect accompaniment to not only panna cotta but also ice cream. The sables are adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s book Baking From My Home to Your’s. My simple adaptation was adding a teaspoon of ground cardamom. It added a nice bite but I think I might use ground pepper the next time.
Vanilla Panna Cotta
Adapted from Butter, Sugar, Flour, Eggs by Gale Gand, Rick Tramonto, Julia Moskin
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
4 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
In a small bowl, combine the water and gelatin and let soak about 10 minutes (do not stir).
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat the cream and sugar to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. As soon as it simmers, turn off the heat and add the gelatin mixture, stirring to dissolve the gelatin. If the gelatin doesn’t completely dissolve in 3 minutes, return the mixture to the heat and warm gently until dissolved. Add the vanilla. Pour the mixture into 6 to 8 ramekins or dessert cups. Chill, uncovered for 2 hours. If you wish to chill them longer you can cover them with saran wrap after they’ve chilled down.
To serve simply dip the cups in hot water for 10 seconds or so, then run a knife around the edge. Invert onto a plate, nap with the caramel, and nestle the sable in. Your guests will be impressed and you’ll know how easy it is.
Excuse me, you left the door open…
It’s a large refrigerator and almost 15 years old…note the duct tape on the door. What you don’t see is two produce drawers…one has bags of baby spinach and arugala and two giant fresh artichokes. The other has potatoes for a potato au gratin and a bag of trail mix that I mix myself from cashews, almonds, dried mixed berries and chocolate chips.
There are a wide range of jams, pickles, butters, and mustards on the shelf behind the cherries, strawberries, and yogurt. The yogurt just came out of its maker and later I’ll drain it and put it in a jar.
The OJ, milk and 1/2 n 1/2 in the door are all local products delivered by LW Dairy…yes, that’s right, I have a milkman, aren’t you jealous! Every week I get 4 bottle of milk and 7 bottles of OJ (the boys drink it by the quart jar), and 3 cartons of 1/2 n 1/2. We use the milk to make yogurt and a variety of espresso drinks, and hot chocolate.
Today’s recipe is for the Red Zinger tea you see in the door. I make it from a recipe given to me by my neighbor Ann, but we store it in one of the milk bottles.
Red Zinger Tea
5 bags of Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger Tea
1 cup boiling water
1/4 cup of sugar
1 bottle extra ginger Ginger Beer
water and ice
Steep the teabags in the water for 8 - 10 minutes. Remove bags, add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Add ice and stir until it melts. Pour into the container you’ll store it in. Add the ginger beer and top the container off with cold water. Enjoy!
What’s in your refrigerator? Post a list in the comments section or send me a picture and I’ll post it.
I’ll be away from my computer on Monday and maybe Tuesday but I’ll be back and I’ll hope to have some interesting pictures…it’s a field trip of sorts.
