Lamb Meatballs with Couscous and Feta

I've got so much hamburger in my deep freeze and it is so hard to get rid of when you don't like hamburger!  I was a little nervous to try this recipe because of the substitution and because it was very different than anything I had made before.  However, it received RAVE reviews from others.  While I liked it, it isn't something I'll be making really often because, well, I don't like eating hamburger very much. Find recipe here.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground lamb or beef
• 1/4 cup dried apricots, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 small red onion, half finely chopped and half thinly sliced
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 cup couscous
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 plum tomatoes, sliced
• 1/2 English cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
• 4 ounces Feta, crumbled

Directions

1. Heat broiler. In a medium bowl, combine the meat, apricots, coriander, chopped onion, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
2. Form the meat into 1 ½-inch balls (about 20) and place them on a broilerproof baking sheet. Broil until cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, place the couscous in a bowl. Add 1 cup hot tap water, cover, and let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
4. In a small bowl, mix together the oil, lemon juice, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper.
5. Serve the couscous with the meatballs, tomatoes, cucumber, Feta, and sliced onion. Drizzle with the dressing.

Banana Crunch Muffins

Love this recipe a lot!!  (Just wish Tom liked bananas so I could make it when he was home too!)  I have substituted the granola and the coconut with Grapenuts and Honey Bunches of Oats with success.  Mmmm. . .getting hungry for these as I type.  So good!  Got this recipe from the Food Network.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 bananas)
• 1 cup medium-diced ripe bananas (1 banana)
• 1 cup small-diced walnuts
• 1 cup granola
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• Dried banana chips, granola, or shredded coconut, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 18 large muffin cups with paper liners. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the melted butter and blend. Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas, and add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Scrape the bowl and blend well. Don't overmix.

Fold the diced bananas, walnuts, granola, and coconut into the batter. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each 1 to the top. Top each muffin with dried banana chips, granola, or coconut, if desired. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from the pan, and serve.

Barbecue Chicken

Found this recipe here.  We liked it quite a bit even though I didn't have bacon or fresh thyme.  I'm not a big BBQ fan, but thought this was pretty good.  I'll make it again.


Ingredients

Brine:

• 2 quarts water
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed with the side of a large knife
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 6 chicken legs and thighs, still connected, bone in, skin on, about 10 ounces each

The Ultimate Barbecue Sauce:

• 1 slice bacon
• 1 bunch fresh thyme
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 cups ketchup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika or smoked paprika if available
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 
  

Directions

For the brine, in a mixing bowl combine the water, salt, sugar, garlic, and thyme. Transfer the brine to a 2-gallon sized re-sealable plastic bag. Add the chicken, close the bag and refrigerate 2 hours (if you've only got 15 minutes, that's fine) to allow the salt and seasonings to penetrate the chicken.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. Wrap the bacon around the bunch of thyme and tie with kitchen twine so you have a nice bundle. Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the thyme and cook slowly 3 to 4 minutes to render the bacon fat and give the sauce a nice smoky taste. Add the onion and garlic and cook slowly without coloring for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, give the sauce a stir, and turn the heat down to low. Cook slowly for 20 minutes to meld the flavors. Once the sauce is done cooking, remove about 1 1/2 cups of the sauce and reserve for serving along side the chicken at the table. The rest of the barbecue sauce will be used for basing the legs.

Preheat oven 375 degrees F.

Preheat a grill pan or an outdoor gas or charcoal barbecue to a medium heat. Take a few paper towels and fold them several times to make a thick square. Blot a small amount of oil on the paper towel and carefully and quickly wipe the hot grates of the grill to make a nonstick surface. Take the chicken out of the brine, pat it dry on paper towels. Arrange the chicken pieces on the preheated grill and cook, turn once mid-way, and cook for a total of 10 minutes. Transfer the grill marked chicken to a cookie sheet and then place in the oven. Cook the chicken for 15 minutes, remove it from the oven and then brush liberally, coating every inch of the legs with the barbecue sauce and then return to the oven for 25 to 30 more minutes, basting the chicken for a second time half way through remaining cooking time. Serve with extra sauce.

Black Pepper Chicken

Edited: 12-28-11

Black Pepper Chicken
(Of course I double or triple this)

1 skinless and boneless chicken breast, abt. 8 oz. cut into thin strips
1 onion, cut into thin strips
1 red pepper, cut into thin strips
2 TBSP soy sauce
1 tsp freshly milled black pepper
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 Maggi seasoning (purchase online or at an Asian market)**
2 TBSP oil


Marinate chicken in 1 TBSP soy sauce for 10 minutes.

Heat up wok and add cooking oil.  When the oil is hot, add sliced onions and stir fry until aromatic.  Add the pepper and the black pepper.  Stir-fry for 1 minute more and add chicken.  Continue to stir-fry until the chicken is cooked.  Add in soy sauce and sugar.  Serve over rice.

We all loved this easy recipe.

Note:  I made this again last night and put the full amount of pepper.  Whoa!  Too much!  I must not have tripled that last time.  I think I will triple the meat, double the seasoning next time.

**While you can make this without this seasoning, it makes all the difference in the world for this recipe.  I definitely won't be making this again without this stuff!

Pork Sandwiches

I made Pioneer Woman's pork sandwiches with cole slaw the other day. Her meat is similar to the one I make for Cafe Rio Salad. I decided I like my recipe a little better. And my preference is not to have it on a bun, but that is just me. Tom and Caleb loved it. But the slaw is wonderful with this! The next day I made myself a quesadilla for lunch, warmed up the meat and put on a little cole slaw. . . *YUM*!

Chicken Broccoli Braid

We had this last week. Not the best. It was very edible and could possibly be good, but I didn't like it enough to waste my time on it again. Of course I didn't use refrigerated rolls, I used my own crescent dough. While my dough is better than what you can buy, it cooks up differently so maybe it was not the best dough for this (but maybe it was; I don't know). According to other reviewers comments I cooked the broccoli a little before. That was a good idea, but I didn't cook it quite enough so it was still crunchy. I also wouldn't waste my nuts in it. I did shape it like a wreath so I didn't have any doughy centers. That was very good idea. We all thought it looked fantastic---until we ate it! Caleb even said, 'Mom, are you going to take a picture of this for your blog?' No, because that requires extra effort and delays the time when the young ones will quiet down from finally getting something to eat! So you will just have to use your imagination!

Grilled Chicken and Mango Salsa

Last night for dinner we had grilled chicken, mango salsa, broccoli, rice and watermelon. The only recipe I haven't posted from last night is the mango salsa. Keep reading!

One note on the chicken, since the salsa is so flavorful, I only slightly seasoned the chicken with the rub on one side. I didn't want it to be bland, but I didn't want anything to over power the yummy salsa.

Mango Salsa

2 mangoes, diced small

2 peaches, diced small

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 red onion, chopped

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

2 Serrano chili peppers, diced (I've also used 1 jalapeno for this)

1 red pepper, chopped

2 fresh limes

Chop all ingredients except the lime. Stir together. Squeeze lime overall. Salt for taste if desired (I add maybe 1/4 tsp.) Allow to chill for a couple of hours for flavors to blend.

Notes on salsa: Measurements are not exact--change up as desired. This is a combination of a couple of recipes and we've found we like this combination, but you can add and take away to your liking.

We all love this blend of exciting flavors!