Jamaican-Spiced Chicken with Sweet Potato Chips

I thought I had chicken thighs in the freezer but after defrosting the package I realized it was breast meat medallions.

I like to pre-slice a few breasts into scaloppini before freezing so I can have a quick Piccata or Marsala for dinner.

I will just have to make Jamaican alla Scaloppini. The leftover chicken will be a nice addition to a Caribbean salad later on in the week so I better load up on some mangoes, papayas, red onions and jalapenos.

I was cleaning out my Email box and stumbled on this recipe from MyRecipes.com.
Since I was planning on making healthier yet well spiced foods this summer, I immediately read the reviews and made it our dinner for tonight.
I changed a few ingredients to suit our tastes but the inspiration came from the original recipe.

It is probably one of the easiest dishes to prepare and we all love that, right?

The marinade will also serve as a glaze on pre-nuked sweet potato chips I will grill alongside the chicken and I will reserve a few tablespoons of the marinade before adding it to the chicken, to use as a sauce for some snap peas which I will nuke first.

No oven, no stove, no sweat....my kinda meal.

Jamaican-Spiced Chicken
inspired by Cooking Light
YIELD: 4 servings
Ingredients
* 1/4 cup minced red onion
* 1 tablespoon agave nectar
* 1 chipotle pepper in adobo, finely chopped
* 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
* 2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
* 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
* 1/2 tsp galangal (or ginger)
* 1 bay leaf
* 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into medallions
* Cooking spray

Preparation
* 1. Combine first 13 ingredients in a large bowl; add chicken, tossing to coat. Heat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat with cooking spray. Add chicken and grill cook 2 minutes. Turn chicken over; cook 2 minutes more or until done.

Nutritional Information
* Amount per serving
* Calories: 187
* Calories from fat: 27%
* Fat: 5.7g
* Saturated fat: 1.4g
* Monounsaturated fat: 1.7g
* Polyunsaturated fat: 1.4g
* Protein: 27.5g
* Carbohydrate: 5g
* Fiber: 0.5g
* Cholesterol: 115mg
* Iron: 1.6mg
* Sodium: 503mg
* Calcium: 21mg

Do you also wait all year for Vidalia onions?

My Shop-Rite stopped selling boxes of Vidalia onions. They have resorted to breaking open the boxes and selling them in bulk, which is OK I guess but the price doubles.

I used to wait all year for Vidalias to appear and was visibly upset at them.

I would spend the day dicing, slicing and chopping, then measuring amounts into bags to process with my Food Saver.

I had Vidalias to cook with all year.

What I did not portion, I would slice and skewer, caramelize, stew and saute to use with everything that came off my grill.

This year I found them at BJ's (or a warehouse-type club) in a net bag and at a price I could live with at $2.99 for a 5lb bag.

Onions are wonderful for diabetics. They add sweetness without adding calories and have a GI of only 15, and a GL of 5 so eat 'em up!!

Onions are a rich source of chromium, vitamin C and dietary fiber. Chromium is a trace mineral that can help control glucose levels, as it aids in providing blood sugar to cells and therefore can increase sensitivity to insulin. According to the World's Healthiest Foods, research indicates that eating onions regularly may also lower the risk of some cancers.

I just added pickled onions to my list of things I want to make this year and Vidalia's would be perfect for pickling. I might just make enough to process and can one jar for each family member. I do believe I will share my recipe for Sabrett Onions with you. In a tightly covered glass container (like a Ball canning jar) they keep in the fridge for 2 months.

If you can find Vidalias, buy them...hell, buy 2 and you will be happy all year.



Sabrett Onions are synonomous with those Sabrett Hot Dog carts on every corner in NYC as well as every ball park in the Tri-State area. Unfortunately those being born in the Mid-West are unaware of Mr. Geisler's creation.

Since I refuse to pay $10.00 for a jar of prepared onions, I have tried 3 different recipes and have found this one to be the closest. Now everyone can have Sabrett-style onions all year round.







Sabrett-Style Prepared Onions
makes about 1 cup but doubles & triples well
* 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
* 1 medium onion, sliced thin and chopped
* 4 cups water
* 2 tablespoons tomato paste
* 2 teaspoons corn syrup
* 1 teaspoon cornstarch
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
* 1/4 cup vinegar

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
2. Sauté sliced onion in the oil for 5 minutes, until onions are
soft but not brown.
3. Add water, tomato paste, corn syrup, cornstarch, salt, and red
pepper flakes, and stir.
4. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 45
minutes. Add vinegar. Continue to simmer for an additional 30 to 45
minutes or until most of the liquid has reduced and the sauce is
thick.

Raising another generation of Whistle Pigs

Quiet, please, or you will disturb them.

Them, you ask?

Why, yes...our new generation of whistle-pigs.

What the devil is a whistle-pig?

Well, a whistle-pig is a groundhog.

Why are they called whistle-pigs?

I actually know the answer to that question......when alarmed, they use a high-pitched whistle to warn the rest of the colony, hence the name "whistle-pig".

Last night, right before I retired to the boudoir (that's the bedroom for you un-Frenched) I looked out the patio doors to check to make sure everything was peaceful when I spotted something moving at the edge of our "back forty". A minute later another something joined the fun. Then another..........

OMG...it was three baby groundhogs. Not 2 but three. I let out this loud laugh and The Nudge came running. He thought Raven got into something again.

Wait?!?! Didn't I just go through this last year with Basil and Fomine?

Back to 4 years ago......

It started with 1 groundhog, which, I named George.

Meet George. I feed him grapes, watermelon, cantaloupe and any other fruit scraps I thought he would eat. We co-existed for years together, peacefully, and we respected each other's space. He wouldn't eat my herbs and I would let him eat all my dandelions. Wasn't that nice of me?

George got big and fat and was very happy. Last year I discovered these 2 little adorable miniature likenesses of George. It was then I realized George was a Georgeane.

Meet her family....Basil & Fomine.

No, I did not know their true sex but I picked generic names. Basil had lighter fur then Fomine. In time Fomine left to start his own family.
Bye, Fomine, come back and visit.

Basil stayed and grew to be a nice little addition to my family. Raven and him had a deal....you don't eat Mommy's herbs and I won't try to sniff you.
I think he made a good deal.
All summer they co-existed comfortably together while Basil got nice and fat.
Winter arrived and nature took over.

I wondered if in the spring Basil would still be here. It was a nasty winter after all.

Right before I left on vacation I spotted what looked like a very thin and slightly smaller version of Basil & thought that someone moved into his burrow and chased him away. Oh well, the new groundhog seemed not to bother the cats or eat any of my new plants.

Cool. He could stay, but I missed Basil. After all, I had a part in rearing him, giving him good fruits to eat and muffins and breads and even cake.

Then last night happened.

Meet Peter, Paul & Mary. So adorable.

One is light furred and the other 2 had dark heads so I named them Peter, Paul & Mary.

So....what seemed to be a smaller, skinny version of Basil was actually Basil. Three babies took alot out of her. Being only a 1 year old herself and having to nurse three babies depleted her of all the fattening things I fed her last year.

Yea for me.

I guess her brother Fomine came back for a visit after all......LOL.

I am sorry, you can laugh at me, but I am an animal lover and believe in the natural order of things that Mother Nature has spent billions of years perfecting.

As long as they do not do any damage they are allowed to exist in my life. Even spiders that eat the bad bugs.

Yes, I will spray a gypsy moth if I see it on my oak tree because there are not enough Robin's to feast on them and they will strip my tree of every leaf in 2 years.

Happy Memorial Day & a little Truman history

Memorial Day starts the beginning of summer but to others it is an end also.
Although I have never lost a family member to a war, I did lose someone very special on that fatal day in September.

Whenever I see a person in uniform, be it military or law enforcement/fire fighters, I will thank them. I do have a cousin that is a policeman in our town here but most of my family members are engineers so we never really learned as children the true significance of Memorial Day.

I think that what the First Lady and the First Lady Vice President are doing is wonderful. Children need to know about war and why we fight them.

Remember that famous saying........Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

So in honor of history I am posting pics of an historical building and the famous man who inhabited it.

The Nudge recently read Harry S. Truman's biography and ever since has wanted to visit his Little White House in Key West.

We had a heck of a time actually pinning it down, the little tourist map they give you doesn't show exactly where it was and we had rented an electric car and had to find a parking spot for that, so we ended up walking quite a ways to get there.

It was worth it. A time in US history. We were not allowed to take pics inside the house for security reasons so I took a few outside.

As soon as you walk through the gates you see the back of the house and walking around the corner there is this huge statue of President Truman, as he would have looked sitting in his garden just about every day he was there. For more history on this house click here.

They have a 30 minute tour for a donation of $15.00 each. I was expecting a more presidential looking interior with better accommodations but I guess in 1945 it was considered appropriate enough.


I hope everyone had a family fun weekend.

Since everyone we know bailed out for the weekend, we had our own cookout of hot dogs.
You simply have to eat something traditional on Memorial Day and that includes all-American food....hot dogs, hamburgers and ice cream.

We buy these huge all beef foot longs at our butcher and they are a meal in itself.
Since we did the beans and macaroni salad the other night, I think a hot dog piled high with pickles, cheese, mustard and Sabrett onions will suffice.

It is 90F here and humid as all get-up. We are OK with spending the day inside with the AC on.

I never was a fan of going to crowded beaches or lakes so we always avoid places like that on a holiday.......besides, the mosquito's here are as big as wasps outside.

I decided to make a Key Lime Cheesecake. I wanted it to be a lighter texture than an all cream cheese one so I used a 16oz container of ricotta cheese and cut the cream cheese bars down to 2, upped the eggs and added lime zest and lime juice until it was as tart as we wanted then I added the sugar until the balance was perfect.

I do not use a standard recipe for flavored cheesecakes because the flavorings can change the ratio. I taste as I go and they turn out perfect every time.
This particular cheesecake was an Italian-style cheesecake, the kind they make with ricotta.

















Italian-Style Key Lime Cheesecake
makes 1 (8") cake
* 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
* 2 tbls butter
* 2 tbls sugar

Process these ingredients until mixed, press into a parchment lined 8" springform pan and bake at 350F for 11 minutes. Remove and cool.

* 2 bricks cream cheese, room temp
* 16oz container room temp ricotta cheese, pureed
* 4 eggs
* 2 tbls flour
* 1 tsp vanilla
* 1/3 cup lime juice
* zest from 1 lime
* 1/2 tsp salt

Mix everything in a stand mixer and pour into cooled cracker crust.
Bake for 1 1/2 hours at 325F. Turn off oven and crack the oven door opened a few inches for 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate.

Key West Revisited and a Grilled Pork Dinner

It will take me days to crop and edit all the 200 pictures I took in Key West.

This first batch is the outside pool and beach area of our resort along with the area just outside our front door.

This was the outside patio, an extension of the Strip House, and where the breakfast buffet was served.
I overexposed this pic so you can see The Nudge under the canopy which was dark compared to the bright outside.

Straight out between the 2 beaches was the gazebo where the weddings are staged. We heard from a wedding planner they wanted $4,000.00 to use it. There were 2 weddings the first Saturday & Sunday we were there.

To the right is were the Skidoos were parked for the jet ski tour they had 2x a day. It was fun watching the people try to get up onto them.

The beach to the left was where the chairs went and the best place to enter the ocean. The wharf to the left of that belonged to the sister resort Casa Marina. We went over there the first night but it was way too noisy and busy for us. A younger couple would love it though.

Those green market umbrellas belong to Louie's Backyard. A local restaurant and bar that Norman van Aiken was a chef at way way ago. It is still a good restaurant. We were there our last night. Pictures on that meal later.

The flags are the USA flag, the Conch Republic flag and the Waldorf Astoria flag.

These pictures are of the beach area of the sister hotel that is really only 1 block east of where we stayed. This place was the Casa Marina Resort. It was a little bigger, a little more expensive and a lot noisier. The beauty of this deal was we could use any of their water facilities, equipment and bars but leave when we wanted quiet.

The resorts were just left (east) of the southernmost point on the island, near this famous landmark.

These 2 pictures were taken facing east on the beach and the 3rd.........



....was taken facing the west, which is were our hotel was located in reference to where I was standing.

When we came out of our room, this view stretched out before us. This was the dock areas where the cruise ships were, which is located completely opposite us on the other side of the island.

Nice view, huh?

As soon as you walked out the door, there was a deli and.....

....stop #10 for the conch tour train and.......

...stop #10 for the trolley.
For $29.00 each you could ride this from 9:00-5:00, two consecutive days and get off and on from 12 stops around the island. Cheaper than a taxi and the drivers are very good guides. They constantly tell funny stories and the history of the island that you won't get from a tour book.
If you take your family, this is a great and economical way to get around.

This is the end of my picture tour of the area around our resort.
Tomorrow I will try to start the wharf area tour.

Tonight I made Grilled Pork Loin Chops with a Blueberry, Fig and Wine Sauce, roasted baby potatoes and the last of the Creamed Truffle Spinach.

I was watching NJN this morning when they were making this and I was looking for something new to try with pork.
I am brining 3 boneless loin chops and will flatten them to 1/2" before grilling.
I could not get a recipe for the sauce so I jotted down some key ingredients and will improvise on the rest.

I have a pint of blueberries, some California Calimyrna figs and the other ingredients on hand. I think even without a recipe I can make a good sauce. Anything with a base of red wine reduced to a glaze, can't be bad.

I butterflied 3 - 1" boneless pork loin chops and pounded them to little bit larger than 1/4". I mixed 1 tablespoon with Emeril's BAM with 1/4 cup EVOO in a large zip bag and placed the chops in there for about 3 hours to marinade.

Red Wine, Fig and Blueberry Sauce
makes about 1 cup sauce
* 3 dried figs, chopped (any kind will do)
* 2 cups red wine
* 1 cup chicken broth
* 1 large shallot, minced
* 1 tbls molasses
* 2 tbls white wine vinegar
* 1 tbls agave nectar
* 2 tbls butter
In a small saucepan, pour in wine, broth, shallot, figs, molasses, white wine vinegar and boil until reduced to 1 cup. Strain through fine sieve back into saucepan. Add blueberries, remaining tablespoon vinegar, agave nectar and butter.

Simmer until blueberries pop. Turn off heat.

When ready to serve, add additional tablespoon of butter & swirl until combined.
Serve over chops.

Grill on a very hot fire for only 2-3 minutes per side.

I turned mine 1 quarter turn after one minute to get those nice grill marks.

The chops remained moist and tender with the brine I did. Even if you only have 2 hours, brine your pork, it makes such a difference.

Flowers, flowers everywhere and a non-stop 3 day planting frenzy

I have been going non-stop since we got home from vacation.

The first day we had to clean up 2 days of constant rain here and mow our lawn 2x. It was so high and damp that the mower just pushed it down instead of cutting it so we had to wait for it to pop back up to recut it. The weeds were twice as bad so the afternoon was spent weed whacking.

Eight loads of laundry later........I was ready for bed that day.
I posted a few pics from our hotel and pretty much passed out.

The second day we went shopping and ran errands. We needed everything.

People and cat food, beer and wines, butcher, Walmart and BJ's. Another exhausting day. We didn't get home till after 3:00. It was a good night to plan a steak and creamed spinach.

The Nudge had this amazing steak at Louie's Backyard and wanted me to replicate the dry rub that they used on his steak.

They used a southwest chili blend and topped it with pickled onions.

I did not want to spend too much time making up a blend, so I cheated.

Yup, I used a packet of already mixed spices.

I poured the contents of the packet onto a plate and pressed both sides of a really good rib eye steak we bought at the butcher's.
The Nudge said it was one of the best steaks he ever had......whooo hooo!!

Easy and good. It doesn't get better that that. I cut up a Vidalia onion and sauteed it in EVOO and then added equal parts champagne vinegar and agave nectar to make the semi-pickled onions he had at Louie's.

I also made this kick-ass creamed spinach that was as good as the Strip House's.

Saute spinach in butter, add sherry and simmer until almost dry. Add milk and mascarpone cheese until blended and then salt & pepper to taste. Sprinkle as much flour as it takes to thicken the mixture and then add your truffle butter. I added about 2 tablespoons. I chopped up some portobello mushrooms, sauteed them and added that at the end.

It was decadent and rally really too good. I only had a small spoonful but I know I will be making them again.

Finally yesterday, we got to go flower and vegetable plant shopping. We like to go to Hope NJ for our hangers because they are cheaper out there and they never fail us.

This begonia is called angel wings. It was a great color for attracting butterflies and at only $18.99 a steal in my book.

After we unloaded the car we hopped back in to go to Lowe's. We needed charcoal and a new hose, connectors, solar yard lights, herbs and vegetables and potting mix.

I always wanted foxgloves, so we bought one to test it out. If it does well in it's location, we plan on buying more in different colors. They are great for hummingbirds and butterflies as well as bumble bees. I need them to pollinate my tomato plants.

The beauty of this was that everything was on sale AND we took advantage of Lowe's Tax Gift card and got $120.00 worth of yard stuff for FREE!!!.

For dinner on Friday I made quesadillas with the extra chicken I grilled on Wednesday, along with the sweet and sour onions and red peppers I roasted.
I let The Nudge use my camera and he took all the pictures you see here. I think he did pretty good, don't you?







A quick flip on the grill and dinner was served.
I had some left over corn salsa from Wednesday, plus the traditional garnishes that go with most Mexican foods.

We bought one of those mini kegs of Sierra Brown Ale and had tap beer at home. It was ice cold and smooooooooooth. A great way to end another busy day.

Last night we had our ribs, baked beans and macaroni salad.


I spent the day planting all the hanging and tabletop flowers and today I will try to get to our vegetable garden. I am so sore from the last 3 day frenzy and have a sink full of pots and glasses that need to be washed. I think I will take it slow and give my back a break. The yard cleaned up nicely and it was a joy to sit out back last night a survey our hard work. I went up to take a nap and 2 hours later woke up just to say nite-nite to The Nudge and jump back into bed.

I'm back from Key West and am totally on a diet

We had such a good time these last 12 days.

If you want a place to veg out and just relax, this is the vacation destination for you.

I came back with all kinds of ideas for dishes and ones I want to replicate.

We ate at every gourmet restaurant on the island but my favorite dish of the week has to be the roasted mussels in a spicy/sweet tomato sauce. I cleaned my plate with too many slices of bread, it was that good.

I have to try to make that sauce, it was perfect for seafood. Sadly, the day I ordered it, I did not have my camera with me to snap a pic. I will be making it this week, for sure. I have never roasted mussels before and am dying to try it.

All week as I go through my pics, I will post a few to let you see the whole island through our eyes.

This first pic is of the back of The Reach resort from our floor. Imagine waking up to this every morning.

The Nudge was only too happy to jump right into the pool as soon as we unpacked and checked out the layout of the land.

Our first day we laid low and sat by the pool until it was time for dinner.

We had made reservations for the Strip House in the resort and I treated The Nudge to a steak. I knew we would be eating tons of seafood so I wanted him to get the meat craving out of the way.
I had one of many different versions of a Caprese salad that I ate almost every night and the roasted grouper for dinner. This salad used grape tomatoes that spilled out over a half a small ball of fresh mozzarella with a mound of pea shoots, some fresh peas, fresh basil and spring greens placed on top with a light vinaigrette. Very basic but very good.

The grouper was wonderful. First time I ate the skin and was surprised to find it crunchy and tasty.

This was the Strip steak with roasted garlic. The Nudge started his meal with 6 oysters on a half shell.

I have to say that the Best Vegetable of the Week was the Truffled Creamed Spinach. Over the Top great!!

I have truffle butter in my freezer and I now know what to use it for, besides mac 'n cheese.

Unfortunately I need to get back to reality and back to cooking my own meals once again.

I pulled a package of chicken breasts from the freezer and will grill them all.

I made a marinade using fresh oregano, chives, parsley, basil and mint with EVOO, soy sauce, garlic asian chili sauce, half a beer, garlic and balsamic glaze.


We were served a corn salad with some Key Lime roasted oysters (later on those) so I made a corn salad to serve with the chicken.

Couldn't have been easier. Frozen corn, minced onions, peppers, basil, garlic, oil and balsamic glaze.

A nice simple, healthy and good for you, finally, meal.

Gumbo - Daring Cooks Challenge May 2011

Before I wet on vacation I made a Cajun Gumbo for the May Daring Cook's Challenge. Although we ate this Tuesday night, the official posting date is today.

The girls at The Daring Kitchen always give you lots of references and recipes for each challenge but they encourage us to make it our own creation.

I chose to make my gumbo like a red bean and rice stew.

A Cajun gumbo has chicken and a pork product like sausage or ham whereas a Creole is seafood, shrimp or crayfish.....I chose a Cajun style with chicken and a smoked turkey kielbasa sausage. The Cajun one has a darker roux and is spicier....yum!

Cooking with Diabetes is all about the Glycemic Index and the addition of red beans to this dish allows me to have a scoop of wonderful white rice to sop up all that wonderful stock. I also wanted to try a technique I saw on a healthy Emeril show where he bakes the flour so that there is no addition of oil, but still has the flavor.

Our May hostess, Denise of There’s a Newf in My Soup!, challenged The Daring Cooks to make Gumbo! She provided us with all the recipes we’d need from creole spices, homemade stock and Louisiana white rice, to Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo and Seafood Gumbo from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh.

I seasoned the chicken quarters with BAM on both sides and sauteed them in canola oil for 5 minutes on each side in a Dutch Oven.

After I browned the chicken, I removed the chicken and all the fat and replaced it with 1 tablespoon of new oil. I stirred in the roasted flour and sauteed the onions, celery, garlic and green pepper in it. After about 5 minutes on low, I opened a bottle of Bass Ale and poured it in, scraping down the bottom and sides. I placed the chicken back into the pot, added chicken stock to cover, the sliced kielbasa, bay leaves, and can of tomatoes (which I squeezed between my fingers into the pan). Brought the liquid back to a boil, reduced to simmer and set the time for 3 hours.

I do not think you need to brown the kielbasa before putting it into the gumbo. I did not want the flavor of the kielbasa to overpower the chicken and if you brown it it can take on a strong flavor.

Before serving I removed the meat from the chicken bones, placed the meat back into the pot and discarded the bones, they did their job flavoring the broth, and for that we thank them.



In the meantime I used my foolproof method of making microwave cooked rice (in a Corning Ware round casserole, standard 2:1 rice/water & salt, nuke on high 5 minutes, nuke on "5" or medium - 15 minutes. Let sit before uncovering.)
In a small bowl I packed the rice evenly and placed it in the center of my dish.

Now I can sit down and relax after a day of running all over the world and let my dinner cook itself. I just loved braised dishes, and a good gumbo is exactly that.

My Cajun Chicken, Sausage and Bean Gumbo
serves 4-6
* 1 package(4)chicken leg quarters
* 1/2 package turkey kielbasa, sliced into 1'2" coins
* 1 cup chopped green pepper
* 1 cup chopped Vidalia onions
* 1 cup chopped hearts of celery
* 3 large garlic cloves, minced
* 1/4 cup roasted AP flour (in a 350F oven for 5 minutes)
* 1(28oz)can plum tomatoes, crushed
* 1 cup chicken broth
* 1 bottle ale
* 2 bay leaves
* 1/4 cup BAM
* salt & pepper to taste
* extra BAM at the end
* 1 tablespoon file` powder, in a small bowl with a spoon

This was excellent. This recipe is a basic one. You can customize it any way you want. The key is to brown the chicken and develop the flavor of the roux, which I got by roasting the flour instead of constantly stirring the flour with oil. This was not labor intensive at all and no harder then a Chicken Cattiatore.