Veggie Wednesday: Grilled Corn with Garlic and Chive Butter

The farmers' market is my favorite place to be in the summer - stalls are full to bursting with ripe and delicious vegetables at their peak flavor. We are in the throes of fresh corn season and corn on the cob signals summer like no other vegetable. Grilled over a fire and topped with a flavored butter, it's pure summer perfection and one of our family favorites!

Grilled Corn with Garlic and Chive Butter

Hands-On Time: 20 minutes
Ready In: 40 minutes
Serves: 6

Ingredients:

6 ears of corn with husks and small length of stalk intact
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter - at room temperature
2 Tablespoons snipped fresh chives
2 cloves garlic - minced
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

Directions:

1. In a small bowl combine butter, chives, garlic and salt and mash until completely
blended.
2. Lay out a sheet of parchment paper and spoon butter into the center to form a log
approximately 1-inch in diameter.
3. Roll parchment paper around the butter making sure the log is uniformly shaped. Pinch
ends tight and set in the refrigerator to firm up until ready to serve.
4. Pull husks down from the corn, leaving intact, and remove corn silk and any debris
that may remain. Pull husks back up over the corn to cover completely. Soak corn in cold
water for 5 minutes. Remove and drain well.
5. Heat grill over high heat. Cook corn directly on grill for 15 to 20 minutes, turning
every 5 minutes to keep from burning Keep grill covered between turning. Peel back husks
periodically to check the corn. Kernels that are still milky looking are not done. Pierce
a kernel or two to check for doneness.
6. Remove corn from grill, strip husks away and snap off stalk. Cut butter into even
slices and serve a slice with each corn cob.

Veggie Wednesday: Maque Choux

This traditional Native American dish is very popular in Cajun country (and pronounced 'mock SHOE'). It's so simple that it's easy enough for every day meals. Fresh corn is the usual for the 'milk' leached from the kernels, but frozen will do in a pinch. The colors are beautiful and the sweetness of the corn plays very well with the flavors of the peppers and onions. This is a great side for summertime meals.


Maque Choux 

Hands-On Time: 10 minutes
Ready In: 25 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
3 ears fresh corn
1/4 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced peppers - red, yellow and green
3 cloves garlic - minced
1 cup seeded and diced tomato
2 Tablespoons light cream
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 teaspoon Kosher salt

Directions:

1. Remove corn from cobs and set aside
2. Heat butter in a medium skillet. Add onion, peppers, corn and celery. Cook for 10
minutes, or until onions and celery begin to soften.
3. Add tomatoes, thyme, cream and salt. Stir and cook for 5 minutes longer. Serve hot.

Veggie Wednesday: Corn Fritters with Black Bean Salsa

Corn Fritters with Black Bean Salsa

Corn Fritters with Black Bean Salsa

I used this basic recipe for the fritters-replace the corn and cheese with just about any other veggie and cheese.

Corn Fritters
Makes 12 small fritters
Printable Recipe

1c. flour
1 egg
1t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. Worcestershire
dash hot sauce
milk as needed (usually 1/4 to 1/2 c.)

Mix all ingredients well until you have a thick batter.

Fold in 1 1/2 c. corn kernels-cooked and drained
3/4 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Drop by the tablespoon onto a hot, lightly greased (I like olive oil spray) griddle and fry until puffed and browned. Keep warm on paper towels while you fry the remainder. Top with salsa, sour cream and green onion.

Black Bean Salsa
Printable Recipe

1 can (15 oz) black beans-rinsed and drained
1 cup corn kernels
1 1/2 c prepared salsa (I like fresh-below)
extra minced garlic

Mix and chill for an hour or so to blend flavors.


Fresh Salsa
Printable Recipe

3 large ripe tomatoes skinned, seeded, and chopped
1 small white onion chopped
3 garlic cloves minced
jalapeno or Serrano chiles (as many as you like) stemmed,
seeded, and chopped (or 1 small can of chopped mild green chiles)
1/4c. chopped cilantro or flat-leaf parsley
1 lime-juiced
1t. kosher salt
1t. sugar if the tomatoes are acidic

Combine all and mix well.
Allow flavors to blend for at least 1 hr.
Taste for seasoning and serve at room temperature.
Refrigerate unused portion.

R,S,C #29 Recipes

Yummy-today's submissions look great!

From Ian at The Gallumphing Gourmand

Chicken with Spicy Corn Stuffing – Two Ways

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken – 3-4 lbs.
butter

Stuffing:
1 C flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/2 C milk
2 tbsp melted butter
3/4 C frozen, thawed or fresh whole kernel corn
1/2 C condensed tomato soup
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp garlic powder

onions, carrots, mushrooms – roughly chopped
1/2 C chicken broth or red wine

First, prepare the stuffing.
Sift flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
Combine eggs, milk and the 2 tbsp of melted butter.
Fold in dry ingredients and add the corn last.
Drop by tablespoons into hot vegetable oil and deep fry
about 5 minutes or until golden brown.
Place all of the fritters into a bowl and break up with a
wooden spoon. Add the tomato soup, the pepper flakes
and the garlic, and stir to combine. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Now, we take apart the chicken.
Start by cutting off the ends of the wings, leaving the
drumettes attached to the breasts.
Remove the legs by cutting the connecting skin, t
hen popping the leg joint from the body and cutting around it.
Now, score along the top of the bird, and run the knife down
along the ribcage, separating the breasts, and remembering
to keep the drumettes attached. Keep the carcass for stock
or soup. Leave the skin on the parts. It will be removed
before serving, but it will add flavour while cooking.
Take each chicken breast and chop the knobby end off
the drumette bone, then push the chicken meat down
slightly, exposing the bone. Take a sharp knife, and slit the
side of each breast, creating a pocket big enough to hold
about 2-3 tbsp of stuffing.
Carefully de-bone the chicken legs, and pound flat by
placing a piece of cling wrap on your cutting board,
then the chicken, then another piece of cling wrap.
Use the flat side of the meat mallet, working from the inside
to the outside of the piece of chicken.

Chicken breasts (Chicken Supreme):
Spoon 2-3 tbsp of stuffing into each breast and place
in a large lightly greased baking dish.

Chicken legs (Chicken Ballantine):
Fold a piece of aluminum foil in half lengthwise a couple of
times so that it is about 12” x 1½”. Spread some butter on
one side of the foil. Place a small handful of the stuffing
into the centre of each leg cutlet.
Wrap the chicken around it, forming a round ball.
Placing the open side down, wrap the foil around the
sides of each package, securing it with twine.
Place the packages into the baking dish with the breasts.

Cut up some onions, carrots, mushrooms, whatever,
and place them around the chicken pieces.
Pour the broth or wine over the top.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the Ballantines
have started to firm up. Remove the foil, and continue
to bake another 20-25 minutes until the
chicken is cooked through.

If you like, you can remove the skin before serving.
@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@

From Krista at Going Gluten-Free:

Chicken Enchilada Stew

1 Whole Chicken (3-4 lbs)
1 can cream of tomato soup (condensed)
1 can's worth fresh chicken broth
1 large onion, sliced
2 large carrots, sliced
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
2 4 oz cans green chiles (or jalapenos if you want hotter)
2 cups crushed tortilla chips
1 16 oz bag frozen corn, thawed and drained.
2 Tbs chili Powder
1 tsp cumin Powder
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried cilantro
dash red pepper
Salt to taste

The Day BEFORE:

Cut chicken into quarters. Place in a LARGE stock pot.
Cover with cold water. Bring to a boil.
Allow to simmer for 2 hours. Remove Chicken and cool,
refrigerate. Allow stock to continue simmering,
uncovered so that it reduces by half.
(this step can be eliminated if you use a store bought
rotisserie chicken and can of broth to replace the
chicken and the fresh broth. This step IS worth it, though).

To prepare the stew:

Pick chicken off the bone and chop to bite sized pieces.
Set aside.

In a large pot, combine the rest of the ingredients and
bring to a boil. Add chicken. Reduce heat and simmer
for 30 minutes on very low heat, covered if you can.

This can also be made in a crock pot and set on low
to cook for 8-10 hours.

Remember to remove bay leaves before serving! ENJOY!!!
@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@

Mine:

Barbecued Chicken Sandwiches on Corn Fritters

Cook chicken in water to cover with bay leaf, garlic, onion, peppercorns and salt. When tender, cool and shred all available meat. Add shredded chicken to Barbecue Sauce and keep warm.

Barbecue Sauce

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed tomato soup
2 Tbsp vinegar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 small clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons seasoned salt
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 Tbsp prepared bbq sauce

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes.

Corn Fritters
(this recipe was doubled to use up the 1 lb bag of corn)

1c. flour
1 egg
1t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. Worcestershire
dash hot sauce
milk as needed (usually 1/4 to 1/2 c.)

Mix all ingredients well until you have a batter the consistency of a thick pancake batter.

Fold in: 1 1/2 c. vegetable-cooked and drained
3/4 c. shredded cheese (Monterey Jack goes well with the corn)

Heat a large pan on medium-high heat. Coat with cooking spray or oil, it's your choice. Add the batter by 1/4 cup and spread to a 3-4" size. Turn when bubbly on top and cook until well done in the center (about 5 minutes total).

Serve with the Barbecued Chicken between two fritters. Add sour cream and green onion. My kids liked this with the chicken separate and with salsa on their fritters.

Ready, Set, Cook! #29

I thought I would post the rules of play in full today for those who haven't yet played.

Every Tuesday (almost!) we play Ready, Set, Cook! based on the TV show that once aired on The Food Network.

We play our own non-competitive version (at the moment!) and here are the basic rules:

1) Three ingredients are given and each player must come up with a recipe that uses all three ingredients without "losing" any of them in the dish(es). In other words, while they must not be prominent they must be noticeable.

2) Your "virtual" pantry is fully stocked with whatever you wish. This is not a REAL game, although I have some players that like to purchase the ingredients and actually come up with a recipe, I don't expect anyone to do that. Basically this is a "virtual" game only. The ingredients will not have amounts listed to allow for greater creativity on the player's part.

3) Once you have decided what you would create with the ingredients please put ONLY the idea or name of your recipe in the comments section and email the ACTUAL recipe or detailed instructions to me, with Ready, Set, Cook in the subject line to:

irishones7 (at) juno (dot) com.

PLEASE don't put the recipe in the comments section! Everyone can read it there and then there is no reason for me to post it, but PLEASE DO put the name of your recipe there so others know that the game is on. All recipes and usernames or blog addresses are posted on Thursday.

On to ingredients!

Today's 3 are:

3-4 lb whole chicken
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 16 oz. bag frozen corn

Get to thinking and have fun!

What Ever Happened to Sunday Dinner?

Sunday Dinner

I asked recently of an email group I belong to what special dinner everyone might have on a Sunday. I was surprised at the responses I received. Some of them were flat out snippy, "Sunday is no different than any other day here", meaning they chose not to have any type of "religious" theme pervade their day.

Well, I wasn't asking whether they went to church or not but they must have thought I meant dinner after church. In my family, however, most of my memories of Sunday dinner were after church. There was nothing better than coming home (to grandma's house or dad's house or wherever we were) to the smells of Sunday dinner already cooking. There's something warm and fuzzy about those memories.

Sunday dinner has long been an American tradition ... institution even. Families once gathered nearly weekly to break bread and enjoy one another's company and I can't quite put my finger on why this seems to be a dying practice.

I myself am guilty of being "too busy" to get it done~even if it is a mere 10 minutes to set something up in a slow cooker.

I love this page and the ideas there for Sunday Dinners, as well as the writing on the whole topic.

If you don't have Sunday dinners, at least try to once a month. The connections you make with family during these times are precious and the chance should never be wasted.

Here is our Sunday Dinner today, complete with the All-American apple pie.

Roast Chicken (I always brine my chicken in water to cover with 1/2 c. of Kosher salt and whatever herbs or spices I feel like that day-today it's Mrs. Dash Lemon Pepper seasoning or try my Simon and Garfunkel Roast Chicken.)
Roasted Potatoes (these I toss with olive oil, rosemary and garlic)
Gravy (Of course!)
Sweet Corn
Tomatoes from our garden
Apple Pie (recipe here)