Reviewing Maple Planks - Bacon Slather Chicken
I sort of did things backwards in terms of plank grilling. The cedar wraps I tried first seemed more exotic than plain, old, plank grilling (as if). And they also seem like they should be more complicated.
But it turns out pepper jack stuffed chicken, with chipotle bacon slather, is actually quite a bit more complicated than it sounds.
First of all, a secret about chicken. If you really cannot risk having tough chicken, (like when you buy all sorts of special ingredients and so that chicken gosh-darn-better turn out moist). Marinate it in buttermilk. I learned it from Giada on the cooking network years ago and it has never failed me. Something about the buttermilk breaking down the fibers in the chicken and making it super tender and flavorful...I don't know. Ask Alton Brown. All I know, is when you need to make sure your chicken cooperates...soak it in buttermilk.
Also, see that little can of chipotle chilies in adobo sauce? For some reason I was under the impression they were some gourmet, expensive commodity. Turns out they cost less than a buck and will last you forever (unless you're a sucker for melting your insides). I groan when I think of all the recipes I've skipped or modified, and I have no excuse.
You soak the plank for an hour, and unlike the cedar wrappers, you can use these planks again presuming you soak them good enough. I soaked them in water, but Jim poured a shot of brandy in because he's wild like that. Honestly, I couldn't tell in the end product, but it sounds cool.
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Unlike the cedar wrapped shrimp, this dish took quite a bit of prep work. It doesn't help that raw chicken is kind of gross and I felt like I was getting chicken cooties everywhere. The wild natives* and my caffeine crash were partially to blame, because I quite literally flung raw chicken everywhere. Raw chicken is disgusting. Not only does it feel like you are spraying salmonella perfume around your kitchen, but it also looks like dead human flesh. (I'm quickly talking myself into being vegetarian here I realize). I had to completely bleach and disinfect my counters and throw everything in the dishwasher for a sanitary rinse before I could make the salad. It was that bad. I was not on my A game.
On a less disgusting note. I didn't have pepper jack, but I did have jack, jalapenos and anaheim chilies, so I chopped them up and stuffed them in the chicken breasts for a homemade pepper jack. I have to say it was much tastier than even the store bought kind.
Bacon. Bacon makes everything better.
I was really surprised by how powerful the maple smell was. Open the grill up to check on the chicken and BAM, you get a full wave of all your favorite campfire memories. Thankfully, right about now it was looking a lot more appetizing and smelling even more amazing. Maybe all that work was not for naught.
I served it with these mashed potatoes with garlic, mascarpone, and caramelized leeks.
And I have to admit it was all pretty spectacular. But not in a comfort food sort of way, but more like South America meets the Old West in a clash of fireworks. If this meal were an outfit, they'd be stripped stockings, under a Victorian lace dress with an opera mask and stilettos.
Recipe:
Maple Plank (soaked at least one hour)
Chipotle Bacon Slather:
-1 C. Mayo
-1/2 C. crumbled bacon
-1/4 C. chopped green onion
-1 chopped Chipotle chile in adobo sauce
four 4-5oz boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
8 slices pepper jack cheese
1-make indirect heat in your grill
2-to make slather: combine all ingredients
3-cut a horizontal pocket into each chicken breast without cutting all the way through. Stuff each pocket with 2 slices of cheese, then place chicken breasts on plank. Spread each breast with the slather, making sure to spread it so as to seal the edges of the chicken to the plank
4-place the plank on the indirect side of the grill. Close lid and cook until the part of the breasts register 160F (25-35 min)
5-Serve the chicken
* (Picture of a wild native)
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Between potty training, rolling in the dirt, and screaming like a banshee, I have no idea what happened to Charlie, but he has been replaced by this sarcastic, little, non chicken eater.
But it turns out pepper jack stuffed chicken, with chipotle bacon slather, is actually quite a bit more complicated than it sounds.
First of all, a secret about chicken. If you really cannot risk having tough chicken, (like when you buy all sorts of special ingredients and so that chicken gosh-darn-better turn out moist). Marinate it in buttermilk. I learned it from Giada on the cooking network years ago and it has never failed me. Something about the buttermilk breaking down the fibers in the chicken and making it super tender and flavorful...I don't know. Ask Alton Brown. All I know, is when you need to make sure your chicken cooperates...soak it in buttermilk.
Also, see that little can of chipotle chilies in adobo sauce? For some reason I was under the impression they were some gourmet, expensive commodity. Turns out they cost less than a buck and will last you forever (unless you're a sucker for melting your insides). I groan when I think of all the recipes I've skipped or modified, and I have no excuse.
You soak the plank for an hour, and unlike the cedar wrappers, you can use these planks again presuming you soak them good enough. I soaked them in water, but Jim poured a shot of brandy in because he's wild like that. Honestly, I couldn't tell in the end product, but it sounds cool.Unlike the cedar wrapped shrimp, this dish took quite a bit of prep work. It doesn't help that raw chicken is kind of gross and I felt like I was getting chicken cooties everywhere. The wild natives* and my caffeine crash were partially to blame, because I quite literally flung raw chicken everywhere. Raw chicken is disgusting. Not only does it feel like you are spraying salmonella perfume around your kitchen, but it also looks like dead human flesh. (I'm quickly talking myself into being vegetarian here I realize). I had to completely bleach and disinfect my counters and throw everything in the dishwasher for a sanitary rinse before I could make the salad. It was that bad. I was not on my A game.On a less disgusting note. I didn't have pepper jack, but I did have jack, jalapenos and anaheim chilies, so I chopped them up and stuffed them in the chicken breasts for a homemade pepper jack. I have to say it was much tastier than even the store bought kind.
Bacon. Bacon makes everything better.I was really surprised by how powerful the maple smell was. Open the grill up to check on the chicken and BAM, you get a full wave of all your favorite campfire memories. Thankfully, right about now it was looking a lot more appetizing and smelling even more amazing. Maybe all that work was not for naught.I served it with these mashed potatoes with garlic, mascarpone, and caramelized leeks.
And I have to admit it was all pretty spectacular. But not in a comfort food sort of way, but more like South America meets the Old West in a clash of fireworks. If this meal were an outfit, they'd be stripped stockings, under a Victorian lace dress with an opera mask and stilettos.
Recipe:
Maple Plank (soaked at least one hour)
Chipotle Bacon Slather:
-1 C. Mayo
-1/2 C. crumbled bacon
-1/4 C. chopped green onion
-1 chopped Chipotle chile in adobo sauce
four 4-5oz boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
8 slices pepper jack cheese
1-make indirect heat in your grill
2-to make slather: combine all ingredients
3-cut a horizontal pocket into each chicken breast without cutting all the way through. Stuff each pocket with 2 slices of cheese, then place chicken breasts on plank. Spread each breast with the slather, making sure to spread it so as to seal the edges of the chicken to the plank
4-place the plank on the indirect side of the grill. Close lid and cook until the part of the breasts register 160F (25-35 min)
5-Serve the chicken
* (Picture of a wild native)
Between potty training, rolling in the dirt, and screaming like a banshee, I have no idea what happened to Charlie, but he has been replaced by this sarcastic, little, non chicken eater.
Reviewing Cedar Wraps
Cedar wrapped balsamic shrimp, with peppers and cilantro.
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This is one of those things where it felt like my sock drawer had a collision with the ocean and my kitchen. Shrimp and cedar? Weird right?
I've heard of grilling salmon on planks, and even found a really sweet recipe last Christmas for planked figs and pancetta. I didn't know however, you could buy sheets of wood so thin it's almost like paper. But I'm always up for new things, even though cooking meat successfully is difficult for me (I almost always ruin it or overcook it), and I definitely can't grill. What could be difficult about wrapping up some fresh seafood in paper and grilling it?
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Nothing actually. It was as easy as it sounded.
The idea with cedar wrappers (or any plank grilling) is to soak the wood in water/juice/wine/whatever. Then when you grill your food on the soaked wood, you infuse your food with all the smokey goodness and flavor of the wood. I'm a newbie at this, so I soaked the cedar wraps in water for 20 min.
Probably one of the reasons I'm so bad with grilling, is I tend to forgo the recipe. In this case however, my lackadaisical cooking paid off, because this shrimp could not have tasted better.
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I tossed together some olive oil and balsamic vinegar, with shrimp, cilantro, red bell pepper, red pepper flakes and garlic. And that was that.
I really wish I could say it was harder, that I slaved away, or that it took an incredible amount of skill, but honestly it took about 10 min. The filling was ready to go by the time the wrappers were done soaking.
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I arranged the shrimp mixture on the cedar wood like I was making a burrito.
Then wrapped it up and tied it with twine..jpg)
The hardest part was finding the end to the twine. (don't judge me...ahem)
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Grilled it on med high...three min on each side and it was done!
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I served it with wild rice pilaf and salad with a cucumber dill dressing (the coolness of cucumber dill dressing helped tone down the spiciness of the shrimp).
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Jim gave it an enthusiastic thumbs up...the kids liked it ok, but weren't a fan of the spiciness.
I can't wait to try planked chicken next.
Serves 2
1/2 lb Shrimp
3 T C balsamic vinegar
2 T olive oil
2 cloves of garlic minced
half bunch of cilantro chopped (if you don't like cilantro, you could use parsley)
1 t red pepper flakes (ommit these entirely if you don't like spicy food)
half bell pepper diced
Salt to taste
Combine in a bowl, put half of mixture on each cedar wrap. Roll with the grain, tie with twine. Grill on med high for 3 min/side.
I used Outdoor Gourmet's Cedar Wraps.
~Esther~
This is one of those things where it felt like my sock drawer had a collision with the ocean and my kitchen. Shrimp and cedar? Weird right?I've heard of grilling salmon on planks, and even found a really sweet recipe last Christmas for planked figs and pancetta. I didn't know however, you could buy sheets of wood so thin it's almost like paper. But I'm always up for new things, even though cooking meat successfully is difficult for me (I almost always ruin it or overcook it), and I definitely can't grill. What could be difficult about wrapping up some fresh seafood in paper and grilling it?
Nothing actually. It was as easy as it sounded.The idea with cedar wrappers (or any plank grilling) is to soak the wood in water/juice/wine/whatever. Then when you grill your food on the soaked wood, you infuse your food with all the smokey goodness and flavor of the wood. I'm a newbie at this, so I soaked the cedar wraps in water for 20 min.
Probably one of the reasons I'm so bad with grilling, is I tend to forgo the recipe. In this case however, my lackadaisical cooking paid off, because this shrimp could not have tasted better.
I tossed together some olive oil and balsamic vinegar, with shrimp, cilantro, red bell pepper, red pepper flakes and garlic. And that was that.
I really wish I could say it was harder, that I slaved away, or that it took an incredible amount of skill, but honestly it took about 10 min. The filling was ready to go by the time the wrappers were done soaking.
I arranged the shrimp mixture on the cedar wood like I was making a burrito.
Then wrapped it up and tied it with twine.
The hardest part was finding the end to the twine. (don't judge me...ahem)
Grilled it on med high...three min on each side and it was done!I served it with wild rice pilaf and salad with a cucumber dill dressing (the coolness of cucumber dill dressing helped tone down the spiciness of the shrimp).
Jim gave it an enthusiastic thumbs up...the kids liked it ok, but weren't a fan of the spiciness.
I can't wait to try planked chicken next.
Serves 2
1/2 lb Shrimp
3 T C balsamic vinegar
2 T olive oil
2 cloves of garlic minced
half bunch of cilantro chopped (if you don't like cilantro, you could use parsley)
1 t red pepper flakes (ommit these entirely if you don't like spicy food)
half bell pepper diced
Salt to taste
Combine in a bowl, put half of mixture on each cedar wrap. Roll with the grain, tie with twine. Grill on med high for 3 min/side.
I used Outdoor Gourmet's Cedar Wraps.
~Esther~
Celebrity Deathmatch - Twilight vs. Harry Potter (the movies)
Bestselling books have an annoying habit of going to Hollywood where they end up looking like a forty year old woman with too much botox and sparkly, hot pink lipstick. In the real world, this would make me secretly sympathetic, but in the writhing mass of producers/writers/actors/cameramen/scorers that live in my DVD case, I consider all adaptations to be fair game (unless your name is Hayao Miyazaki or Tim Burton and you are taking utterly senseless but charming liberties).
The cellulite sagging, twinkie stuffed celebrities facing off in each corner today deserve at least some measure of respect. Both dearly beloved, but each with a score to settle, one with a reputation of cheap, emotional porn, and the other accused of the dark arts.
Twilight has the roughest time. The book relies on its angsty, first person point-of-view to sell you on its personal form of sparkly crack. Movies on the other hand, are shot in omnicient POV which means poor Kristin Stewart spends a lot of time sitting around trying to infuse lots of backstory and emotion into a series of looks. Mostly she just looks constipated.
The movies feel lazy, like the actors depend on their hotness to carry the story (which is shortsighted considering there's no way any normal human actor can look as hot as Stephanie Myers vampires).
Which is why Harry Potter wins this round. It also had a hard job this last movie. Since the story only covers the first half of the last book, they were forced to make a blockbuster without the golden carrot of resolution to offer the audience. That and the last book is dreadfully dull in the middle, with Harry, Hermione and Ron wandering around in the forest arguing with each other for chapters upon chapters.
Lord Of The Rings gets around it by making everything as visually stimulating as possible. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows gets around it by having Emma Watson. (that and a super talented group of musicians scoring the film) It was the first movie where I realized the music was making me feel whatever emotion would normally be communicated by internal dialogue in a book. Brilliant.
I know Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows isn't even close to the best example of a film score being used to communicate depth, but when you compare it to all its peers (bestselling books that have been turned into mediocre movies) you find yourself actually understanding and sympathizing with all the teenage drama instead of being annoyed by it.
{Esther}
Reviewing Legal Painkillers
Hats off to people who don't need painkillers, and gold stars for everyone who is in pain, but prefer instead to muscle through their reminders of Eve's preference in produce.
As someone who recently burned a hole in her stomach from Advil... it's high time I reviewed all the cute little pills in my cupboard that can be identified as "over the counter". Which somehow translates too "You can't kill yourself too easily with them." Starting with...my new found favorite: Poor man's crack.
BC Powder (Aspirin):
This stuff comes in questionable little packets of white powder that you probably don't want the police finding. You can tell yourself it's healthier than the competition, because technically it's made from white willow bark and has no additives or preservatives. Add a good ol' shot of caffeine (pre-mixed in for your convenience), hold it under your tongue for super fast headache relief, and you will start worshiping this lesser known evil. It's a painkiller that rivals Excedrin...minus the guilt.
Tylenol (Acetaminophen):
The goodie two shoes of the medicine cabinet. A puny little girl who does the least harm in terms of bodily damage, but also packs about as much punch as a ribbon twirler. Technically it's not very good for your liver... assuming you're one of the few people left in the world who actually take it more than twice a year, only to remind yourself it doesn't work. Good to keep stocked in the cupboard for children.
Excedrin:
This is the Darth Vader of socially acceptable meds. That is, if you put Darth Vader in a black tutu and gave him a caffeine addiction. Excedrin infamously packs enough stuff considered "bad for you" to give it a questionable edge. Although the package only claims three ingredients, acetaminophen, aspirin and caffeine, so maybe it's undeserving of it's bad boy reputation. If you live among health nuts, then you will think twice about being seen in public with it. Secretly though, you carry a torrid love affair.
Advil (ibuprofen):
The Jock and self proclaimed snob. Ibuprofen...it's not just a painkiller, it's also an anti-inflammatory. Go on a long bike ride, or work yourself into a backache, and this is the breakfast of champions. Since it's regularly perscribed by doctors in 800 mg doses, no one feels guilty for self medicating the same way. Unlike Tylenol, it isn't hard on your liver, instead choosing to bully up on the stomach. Everyone knows that stomachs are less important than livers, so it's much easier to get carried away with this painkiller-that-is-also-an-anti-inflammatory (It doesn't just mask the pain...it heals). You can buy it at Costco in pirate treasure quantities, but remember... if you regularly take four at a time for more than three months, you will end up with an ulcer. I knew this, but somehow wasn't paying attention.
The good, the bad, the ugly.
It isn't alcohol or vicodin, and they aren't smuggling it over the border, so come... partake.
It isn't alcohol or vicodin, and they aren't smuggling it over the border, so come... partake.
Reviewing an E-reader- The Nook
Esther:
Friday night Jim led me into the living room where he had a candle and chocolate on top of a wrapped present waiting for me. My birthday was over two weeks ago and I thought he'd forgotten to get me something... turns out he was just putting the finishing touches on saving his pennies for this:
Friday night Jim led me into the living room where he had a candle and chocolate on top of a wrapped present waiting for me. My birthday was over two weeks ago and I thought he'd forgotten to get me something... turns out he was just putting the finishing touches on saving his pennies for this:
I was super excited, although I'm not exactly an early adapter, and I don't just love technology for technology sake. Nobody was surprised (least of all Jim) when I fussed and muttered for a few hours, while I figured out how to work the darn thing. I cursed its existence and praised the worthiness of real books, until I discovered how to check out books from my library, and then I disappeared into a black hole. Three days and five books later I've reemerged, ready to give a report and opinion.
1) An e-reader is quite possibly a dangerous tool. Sort of like a permanent mainline for a heroin addict.
2) Real books feel better, smell better and are somehow comforting and magical parts of my home. However, when I read (and I'm sure most readers are like this) I don't see letters and sounds. There are no pages with words on them. Instead I'm in Middle Earth, feeling the dirt between my toes as I dance in the Shire. Or I'm climbing up the stairs at Hogwarts and hoping I make it to Potions on time. I'm transported inside the story and the book itself could be made out of dragon skin or etched on gold and I'm sure I wouldn't notice. Because of this, the electronic-ness becomes a non issue for me. It quickly just becomes a portal to some other place.
3) I specifically did not want the Ipad because it has a back lit LCD screen. Hard on your eyes and difficult (if not impossible) to read in the bright sunshine. The Nook (and Kindle) however, come with something called "e-ink" which is formulated to look just like a printed page. Easy to read, and since I'm pretty sure I live in one of the brightest climates in the country, it is an absolute necessity for me.
4) I don't like the page turns. The whole screen goes kind of black and crinkly and then a half second later your new page appears. At the beginning, I was constantly waiting on it, but then my brain subconsciously started telling my finger to hit the button when I still had a few lines left. This way I get to the bottom of the page just as the new one loads, so it's not really an issue anymore, but it's still different.
5) You can pop the thing in a ziploc and go sit in the pool with your kids as they splash half the water on you, your book and your entire backyard.
6) It works on an interface much like Itunes. You plug it into your computer via usb and Adobe Reader pops up with your virtual bookshelf. When you check out books from your library, they appear here. When you download books off of bit torrent *cough*, they appear here. You can put music and audio books on your e-reader too, and it's all quite simple to navigate (once you figure you how and where to install the correct programs *double cough*).
7) It only has two gigs of memory. However, you can buy a micro sd card for it if you wish.
8) You know when you read a book, you're constantly looking for a comfortable position? You end up being comfy on your side which is great, except you can only read one side of the page easily, so when you reach the end of that page, you have to either switch sides or hold the book up awkwardly until you finish the awkward side of the page and are onto the easy side again. Yes? or is that just me? My favorite feature on the nook is that it has page forward and page back buttons on both sides. So you can be hanging upside down from a trapeze with one hand tied behind your back and it would still be easy to turn pages. Or if you're me, you can be ensconced on the couch with blankets, pillows and a pile of tissue and you don't have to move. I know it's a small thing, but it is seriously cool.
9) One last peeve and then I'm done. There's no sense of how far you've got left in the book. I didn't realize how I subconsciously compared the tension in the book to how far I had left to go. A quick glance and you think "holy Barnabas, I've got another 200 pages of this?" or "whew, we're almost there, all my questions will be answered in the next 50 pages". You don't get that sense of time or space on an e-reader. The little slider and page number at the bottom doesn't count.
So there you go. I could probably think of some more things I like or dislike about the Nook, but all in all, I'm very fond of my new e-reader and while it won't be replacing my paper copies on the shelves, it will allow me to decide what I want to buy. Some books are terrible, other books are a fun read, and some books you just have to have on your bookshelf. My e-reader is the gatekeeper.
