Looking for Suggestion!

We loved our weekend at Maidstone Lake sooooo much that we are heading back up there this weekend! I'm in the process of planning menus so I can grocery shop for the 2 dinners, 2 lunches, and 2 breakfasts we'll be there.. I'm pretty good for Breakfasts.. usually eggs, or pancakes. And so I'm asking you guys for some suggestions for lunches and dinner! Either make it on the campsite, or ahead, I'm looking forward to any suggestions.

Sunday Paper, Sunday Supper!

Having to work every other weekend does have it's advantages in my job.. although nothing would beat having every weekend off! Anyway, today was a pretty low-key day for the residents at the house; some of us hung out in the kitchen, reading the Sunday paper, sharing our horoscope, and offering opinions on various news items. Individuals who are diagnosed with a severe mental illness such as Schizophrenia, or Bipolar disorder sometimes experience difficulty in social interactions, and situations; it is an aspect of mental illness that can have a significant impact on one's way of life. Because of this common sympton, I try to encourage any sort of activity such as reading and sharing the newspaper with the residents because it enhances social skills in a natural setting. This is a long preamble to dinner, I know... Anyway, while reading the paper I came across this recipe for Marinated Grilled Steak on Grilled Polenta. What a strange combination! I wouldn't have ever thought of this one! On impulse, I texted Thom to defrost some steak I had in the fridge, and I would pick up some ready-made polenta on the way home. This meal was pretty quick and easy to prep.. in fact I didn't bother with the marinade in the recipe, mainly because it is nearly identical to my home-made oil/vinegar salad dressing that I keep on hand, so I had Thom use that. You could probably use a good store bought oil/balsamic vinaigrette dressing too! Otherwise, I made the recipe as directed.. and let me tell you, with a fresh green salad to accompany it, this was a super Sunday Supper, right out of the Sunday Paper!! Enjoy! (AP Photos/Larry Crowe)

The recipe calls for slicing a tube of prepared polenta into rounds, then brushing them with oil and briefly grilling them. Strips of steak then are piled onto each round and topped with sour cream blended with chives and shallot.

GRILLED SIRLOIN WITH POLENTA AND SOUR CREAM

Start to finish: Approx 45 mins (Including marinade time) Servings: 4

For the steak:

1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
4 cloves garlic 1
1/4 pounds sirloin steak, trimmed of fat and very thinly sliced (I used 'london broil' shoulder steak, cheaper and just as tasty)

For the polenta:

18-ounce tube prepared polenta
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper
Garlic powder

For the sour cream:

1 cup sour cream (I use Light or Fat-free)
1 shallot finely minced
1 TBSP chopped chives

In a blender, combine the oil, vinegar, salt, peppercorns and garlic. Puree until smooth, then pour into a stainless steel or other non-reactive bowl. Add the steak, mixing gently to coat, then refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the polenta into 8 slices. Use a pastry brush to lightly coat both sides of each slice with oil. Sprinkle both sides of each slice with a bit of salt, pepper and garlic powder. Set aside until the steak is ready to grill.

In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, shallot and chives. Set aside.

Heat the grill to medium-high. Coat the racks with cooking spray or oil.

Grill the polenta slices for 3 minutes per side, or until bold grill marks appear. Use a spatula to carefully transfer the slices to serving plates.

Grill the steak for 1 minute per side. Mound 1 or 2 slices on top of each polenta round. Top each with a dollop of sour cream.

For an alternative, cut that same tube of polenta into bite-size chunks. Toss the chunks in a saucepan with 1/2 cup of milk and a bit of grated Parmesan cheese. Heat and stir until smooth and creamy. Spoon some of the soft polenta onto serving plates, then top with steak and a dollop of sour cream. I am going to try this version next time, but the original version was YUMMY~!!

Seared Ahi Tuna on the Deck

This month the weather has been soooo hot and muggy, that most nights I have avoided cooking at all costs..either making salads with a protein (beans, cheese, chicken etc) component, or making reservations! (LOL) Seriously, I was pretty psyched tonight to cook, since Mother Nature gave us a break today, with a manageable 80 degrees and very little humidity! So, we decided on a yummy grilled ahi tuna that I bought on sale at Sam's Club a few weeks ago. This is a frozen item, with the tuna portions running approx 6 ounces, and packed in indvidual vacuum sealed pouches. Very reasonably priced, compared to the $12.00+ per pound previously frozen that is usually what I see at our Market Basket. I marinated the steaks for about 30 minutes in the fridge with a light and flavorful lime/honey marinade, saving 1/2 of the marinade to baste while grilling. For a seasonal side dish, I prepped some fresh Patty Pan squash, which I bought yesterday at our local Farmer's Market. Patty Pan is a summer squash, similar to yellow and zuchinni, but with a much milder, mellow flavor. It's one of my favorites, and I love it grilled, with just a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkling of salt and some Mrs. Dash seasoning. Because the Tuna cooks so quickly, I chose to make a Couscous seasoned with fresh Thyme from my window box garden, and about a 1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese stirred into it once it had cooked. All in all a pretty yummy meal.

Honey Lime Glazed Grilled Ahi Tuna

This very simple glaze recipe is great paired with meaty Ahi tuna fillets. The tangy limes and the sweet honey work so well with the subtle smokiness from the grill. This grilled Ahi tuna recipe is best if the fish is cooked medium-rare.

Makes 4 Honey Lime Glazed Grilled Ahi Tuna Fillets

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 limes, juiced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 4 six-ounce Ahi tuna fillets
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup honey
• vegetable oil, as needed for grill

Preparation:

In a bowl, whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, rice vinegar, garlic, and ginger. Lay the tuna fillets on a plate, season with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, and spoon over 1/2 of the glaze, turn to coat evenly. Let marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Add the honey to the remaining half of the glaze and mix well.

Heat an outdoor grill on high. When the grates are hot, lightly oil, and place tuna fillets on grill. Cook for about 2 minutes, and turn over, brushing the glaze over the cooked side. Grill 2 minutes more for medium-rare to medium. When fish is cooked transfer to a plate and brush the honey lime glaze over the other side of fillet.

Serve immediately with any remaining glaze.

Finding a Slice of Heaven at Maidstone State Park

Camping for 3 days in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, up at Maidstone State Park, in Guildhall (pronounced "gillhall" by the natives). A beautiful, peaceful spot, where we camped in a lean-to, canoed, explored, and definitely plan to return! Vermont state parks are among the nicest in the area. We love them, because we can leave the tent at home and stay in a site with a huge lean-to, where we set up our air mattress and queen-sized sleeping bag, and have plenty of room for our gear, and even the picnic table, if the weather turns nasty! It really is a little slice of heaven!

Now, you have to know, that I have been camping since I was in diapers, and so I grew up watching my Mum's expertise as a Chef de Camp! That is to say that our meals while camping were made from scratch, just like at home. My mom even baked (with a special oven made to be used on a Coleman stove) while camping! So when Thom and I camp, we cook real food; none of that Hamburger Helper, or Manwhich stuff. For this outing, we had Lentil Curry (look for it in an upcoming post), and Beef Chili Verde, a different take on Chili Con Carne! Easy to make, even at a campsite, and it freezes beautifully, so double the recipe, and have a meal ready for one of those crazy-busy days we all have...

Beef Chili Verde

Chile Verde, usually a slow-cooked stew of pork, jalapeños and tomatillos, becomes an easy weeknight meal with quick-cooking ground beef and store-bought green salsa. You can easily swap out the beef for cooked lentils to make a satisfying vegetarian version! I served our chili with warmed soft corn tortillas and garden fresh sliced tomatoes.

4 servings, about 1 1/2 cups each

Ingredients

• 1 pound 93%-lean ground beef
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 1 16-ounce jar green salsa, green enchilada sauce or taco sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 15-ounce can pinto or kidney beans, rinsed

Preparation

1. Cook beef, bell pepper and onion in a large saucepan over medium heat, crumbling the meat with a wooden spoon, until the meat is browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin and cayenne; cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Stir in salsa (or sauce) and water; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in beans and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.

Nutrition

Per serving : 307 Calories; 8 g Fat; 3 g Sat; 3 g Mono; 64 mg Cholesterol; 29 g Carbohydrates; 27 g Protein; 6 g Fiber; 516 mg Sodium; 641 mg Potassium

1 1/2 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 starch, 2 vegetable, 3 lean meat

La La La Latino! Scallop Ceviche and Tostones!

Super, super busy. What with overtime, the holiday, the HEAT, etc... it's been a bit since I've posted. So much for my intent to blog a dish daily... Well, case in point, if I were to blog about dinner last night, it would have looked like this

So, what happened, was the Ceviche didn't work! Ceviche is a cool dish, where you actually use an acidic marinade (lemon juice, lime juice..) to "cook" seafood, which is then combined with fresh veggies and herbs to make a great "it's a heatwave and I don't want to grill, or be near anything that is hot" recipe!; in this case, I was making a Bay Scallop Ceviche, using lime juice and organge juice. But, I think I messed up on the timing.. it should have been 'done' in 3 hours, but wasn't! No dinner back up plan, so we ended up ordering out from Domino's (the Philly Cheese Steak and Fiery Hawaiian are current faves!)

So, I re-marinated the scallops, and tonight we had the Ceviche on these awesome corn and Jalapeno tostadas. As an accompaniment to the Ceviche, I made Fried Plantains. If you've never made this, you have to give it a try... you may just give up french fries! They are delicious! I got this recipe from Allrecipes.com, from a contributor who is from Puerto Rico. Hope you will try it, and enjoy it as much as we do!

Ingredients:

5 - 6 tablespoons oil for frying 3 green plantains, peeled and cut into 1" slices.

3 cups cold water salt to taste

Directions:

1.	Heat the oil in a large skillet. Place the plantains in the oil and fry on both sides; approximately 3 1/2 minutes per side.
2.	Remove the plantains from the pan and flatten the plantains by placing a plate over the fried plantains and pressing down. (About 1/4" thick)
3.	Dip the plantains in water, then return them to the hot oil and fry 1 minute on each side. Salt to taste and serve immediately.

Nutrition Information Servings Per Recipe: 2 Calories: 140

Amount Per Serving Total Fat: 3.8g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 14mg

Amount Per Serving Total Carbs: 28.5g Dietary Fiber: 2.1g Protein: 1.2g

Enjoy until next time! Please visit often, and/or keep up on facebook!