Grilled Pork Cutlets

This is completely unrelated to anything having to do with food, but have you discovered Spotify yet? Oh man...I'm so in love with it. It's similar to Pandora except if you search on a song or artist or album, you get to choose what you want to listen to instead of getting a mix based on that. Oh man...it's freakin' fantastic! Right now I'm listening to one of the Glee soundtracks. The only problem is that I get overwhelmed with music choices thinking of everything I could possibly listen to. The other day I listened to the entire Annie soundtrack. Oh how I love Annie, you have no idea. Then Boy #1 came downstairs when his afternoon quiet time was done and said, "Mom, what are you listening to? Turn it off, this isn't good." He's five. Sheesh.

Anyway, I've tried to stick with most of our dinners coming from the grill or crockpot. I remembered a Cook's Illustrated magazine I bought a couple summers ago that is aptly named Summer Grilling. They're clever folks there at Cook's Illustrated when it comes to naming things. I couldn't remember ever having grilled pork before, so I wanted to give this a try. Plus I had just about everything on hand for it which is always a plus.

Grilled Pork Cutlets
Source: Cook's Illustrated Summer Grilling 2009 magazine

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves
3/4 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
12 thin-cut boneless pork chops (about 2 pounds), trimmed of excess fat and pounded into 1/4-inch thick cutlets

Combine vinegar, oil, garlic, thyme, sugar, salt, and pepper in large zipper lock plastic bag. Transfer chops to bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to two hours.

Turn all burners on gas grill to high and heat grill with lid down until very hot, about 15 minutes. Scrape grate clean with grill brush. Dip wad of paper towels in oil; holding wad with tongs, wipe cooking grate.

Remove cutlets from bag and discard marinade. Grill cutlets with lid down until bottoms begin to turn opaque around edges, about 2 minutes. Flip cutlets and grill until just cooked through, about 30 seconds. Transfer to platter, tent with foil, and let rest 5 minutes. Serve with Spicy Fruit Salsa.

Spicy Fruit Salsa
Spicy Fruit Salsa:
1 jalapeno chile, seeded and minced (don't seed if you want it spicy)
1 shallot, minced
2 tsp cider vinegar
2 tsp honey
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 ripe peaches, pitted and chopped fine
2 ripe plums, pitted and chopped fine
1 Tbsp finely chopped basil leaves
Table salt

Whisk jalapeno, shallot, vinegar, honey, and oil in small bowl. Let sit until flavors combine, about 15 minutes.

Combine peaches and plums in a large bowl. Add 1/2 cup of fruit to bowl with jalapeno mixture and mash with potato masher until smooth. Add mashed fruit mixture and basil to bowl with cut fruit and stir until combined. Season with salt and let sit until flavors combine, about 15 minutes.

*****

Let me tell you...I mashed and mashed my fruit and never got it smooth, so I finally gave up and kept it chunky. I know a lot of people don't dig on meat with a sweet accompaniment, but some combinations don't bother me. Like this one. The fruit salsa was so tasty with the jalapeno and the bite it gave the salsa, mixed with sweet peaches and plums. Yum! I don't think I read the recipe for the salsa all the way through before starting dinner, so I didn't let it sit as long as was recommended, but it was still tasty. Boy #1 didn't want any of the "sauce" on his meat, but Boy #2 had it and loved it. The husband and I loved it, so I call it a success! If you plan ahead enough for the fruit salsa, this really comes together fast. We had it with some steamed broccoli and super tasty Rick Bayless Barbecue Baked Beans. This was a great tasty summer dinner! There were actually two variations included in the magazine, too. One used rosemary and red wine vinegar for the marinade, and the other called for cumin, cilantro, and lime juice. I may have to try one of those at some point too!

(Sadly my camera was upstairs, and instead of making my family wait to eat while I went to grab it, I took a picture with my phone.)

Skillet Chicken with Mexican Green Rice

I have to say I've been on a bit of a cooking roll this week. I love when that happens. I wanted to try some new things but also use up some ingredients we had on hand. I had found chicken thighs marked down recently at the grocery store and originally planned on making a recipe that involved roasting apples and chicken thighs, but since it's definitely summer here (the high temps have been in the low 100s), roasting sounded like a horrible way to cook dinner. I pulled out one of my trusty America's Test Kitchen 30-Minute Supper magazines for a different idea. I found this recipe in the issue from last summer. I had always wanted to try it, but chicken thighs aren't something I usually have on hand.

Skillet Chicken with Mexican Green Rice
Source: America's Test Kitchen 30-Minute Suppers, Summer 2010

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, excess fat trimmed
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped fine
2 poblano peppers, cored, seeded, and chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 14-ounce can green enchilada sauce
1 cup long-grain white rice
1-1/4 cups water
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook chicken until well browned on one side, about 5 minutes. Transfer to plate.

Add onion, poblanos, and remaining oil to now-empty skillet and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add enchilada sauce, rice, water, and any accumulated chicken juices and bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits. Nestle chicken in rice browned side up, cover, and cook over low heat, stirring every 5 minutes, until rice is tender and chicken registers 175 degrees, about 20 minutes.

Stir in cilantro and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

*****

This ended up taking me more like 45 minutes than 30 because I couldn't fit all the chicken in my skillet without really crowding it and had to cook it in two batches. I was a bit worried my kiddos wouldn't like this because Boy #1 doesn't dig on spicy food, but it wasn't really spicy at all which was good. If you wanted it hotter, you could add in a minced jalapeno with the onion and poblano. I don't think I stirred mine often enough because I had some rice that stuck to the bottom of the skillet.

All in all, we really liked this. My kids ate it no problem, and the rice cooked in the enchilada sauce was really tasty. I don't know about you, but I cannot find 14 ounce cans of enchilada sauce lately, only the big 28 ounce cans. It works out okay because I freeze the other half to use later, but it sure would be nice to get just the size I need. It was actually kind of funny because I had found a bag of something dark red in my freezer recently and had no idea what it was. Then when I was packing up the remaining green enchilada sauce, I realized what was in the mystery bag--red enchilada sauce! Why I hadn't labeled it, I don't know.

Anyway, this is definitely something I'd make again! I finished up the leftovers for lunch yesterday, and they were still tasty, although the rice wasn't quite as good as it was originally.

FYI, the picture in the magainze is a lot nicer looking. Their rice isn't nearly as saucy as mine, but that's okay...I like saucy rice. And their pieces of chicken were more browned than mine.

Pimento Cheeseburgers

Not that long ago I bought a special America's Test Kitchen magazine, The Best of America's Test Kitchen: Best Recipes and Reviews 2011 I'm pretty much a sucker for any kind of special edition magazine they put out. I couldn't remember if I'd read through all of it, so I stuck it in when we went to CA a couple weeks ago. There are some fabulous things in it--of course--but one thing immediately jumped out to me:

PIMENTO CHEESEBURGERS

I heart me some pimento cheese. My grandma used to make it, and I loved it. I found out the husband loves it, so I started making it. This was years ago. Actually I think when my grandma found out that the husband loves it, she'd make it special for him. Anyway, we love pimento cheese. And a burger stuffed with it?! Awesome. I couldn't wait to try it. Plus I figured, sans bun, it would be a great dinner for one night while we were doing Phase One of the South Beach Diet. Technically you aren't supposed to have cream cheese, but there are only two ounces of it in the whole recipe, so I figured that was fine.

Pimento Cheeseburgers
Source: America's Test Kitchen

6 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated fine (about 1.5 cups)
1/3 cup drained jarred pimentos, chopped fine
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp mayonnaise
2 slices high-quality white sandwich bread, torn into pieces
1/4 cup whole milk
1-1/2 pounds 85 percent lean ground beef
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Mix cheddar cheese, pimentos, cream cheese, mustard, and cayenne in bowl until well combined. Drop four 2-tablespoon portions of pimento cheese mixture on plate and cover tightly in plastic wrap. Freeze until firm, at least 2 hours. Combine remaining pimento cheese with mayonnaise, cover with plastic, and refrigerate.

Combine beef, Worcestershire, salt, and pepper in large bowl and gently knead until well combined. Divide meat into 4 equal -portions. Mold half of 1 portion of meat around 1 piece of the frozen cheese, then surround this mini-patty with the remaining half portion of meat. Repeat with the remaining frozen cheese and 3 portions meat to form 4 hamburgers.

Heat vegetable oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until just smoking. Add patties and cook until well browned, about 6 minutes. Flip burgers, cover skillet, and continue cooking until well done, about 6 minutes.

Distribute cheese-mayonnaise mixture evenly on top of burgers, cover, and cook until mixture is slightly melted, about 1 minute. Transfer to plate, tent with foil, and let rest 5 minutes. Serve.

*****

I ended up finding the recipe online to copy instead of typing it all out. The magazine version has you grilling the burgers, but it was hot here yesterday, so I just did them in a skillet. I did the burgers a little differently, I skipped the bread and milk step and just used ground beef (actually I used ground bison) with some salt and pepper...I'm out of Worcestershire.

These. Were. Tasty. Wow. I only used a pound of meat, so I made three burgers, and the husband and I each had 1.5. We both loved them. The melted pimento cheese inside, the melted pimento cheese on the outside. I definitely thought the meat itself could have used a little more seasoning, but as long as there was some pimento-y, cheesy goodness on the bite, it didn't matter a whole lot. This will definitely become a favorite burger in our house!!

(Sorry, my camera was in the car so the best I could do was a picture on my phone.)

Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken with Green Beans

I've been down with strep throat most of this week. I had figured I'd update my blogs while stuck in bed, but I did something like 10 entries for my family blog and was all blogged out after that. Plus every time I'd think of it I'd realize most of the recipes I'd made weren't online and the actual recipes were downstairs which would require me leaving my sickbed. Hopefully over the weekend I can get caught up on everything.

We had this a week or so ago, and I honestly wasn't sure what my family members would think. I generally assume prosciutto-wrapped anything is going to be awesome, but everyone else in my house doesn't share my affinity for olives. Their loss I guess. It's a recipe from America's Test Kitchen 30-Minute Suppers Summer 2010. Honestly I'm not sure how I never noticed it before because I've looked through this magazine hundreds of times.

Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken with Green Beans
From America's Test Kitchen 30-Minute Suppers Summer 2010

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup pitted mixed olives
1/4 cup lightly packed sage leaves
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
8 thin slices prosciutto
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, sliced thin
1 pound green beans, stem ends trimmed
1/4 cup water

Adjust oven rack to upper middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Process butter, olives, and sage in food processor until smooth.

Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Spread butter mixture on 1 side of each chicken breast. Working with 1 breast at a time, slightly overlap 2 slices of prosciutto on work surface. Lay chicken, butter side down, in center of slices, then fold prosciutto over chicken. Repeat with remaining prosciutto and chicken.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add chicken, seam side down, and cook until well browned, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to baking sheet and bake until chicken registers 160 degrees, about 8 minutes. Transfer to platter and tent with foil.

Reduce heat to medium. Add garlic to skillet and cook until lightly browned, 1-2 minutes. Add green beans and toss to coat thoroughly. Add water, cover, and cook until bright green and tender, 8-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve chicken with green beans.

*****

I didn't change anything with the chicken and used a mix of green and kalamata olives. I went to the olive bar at my grocery store and picked out a few olives of two different kinds. I've used the green olives before in muffuletta sandwiches and knew they were quite yummy because they're marinated in olive oil and garlic. Yum! I used frozen green beans because it was what I had. I was feeling lazy and didn't want to slice garlic, so instead I just threw some dried garlic in the pan.

This chicken was AMAZING. I took one bite and was in l-o-v-e!! Yes, I feel like I'm 13 writing this but I don't care. It was so fantastically good. We all loved it. The husband and I both devoured ours. Just thinking about it makes me salivate some. The salty olives, the slightly crisped prosciutto...lordy mama. This will definitely go into high dinner rotation or as often as I rotate dinners anyway!

Sorry the picture isn't better...I couldn't find my good camera. I didn't know which was "better," the picture that looked orange or the one with the glaring flash. Sigh.

Green Chile Cheeseburgers

I've been intrigued by green chile cheeseburgers for quite awhile. I saw an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay where he made a version, and they looked SO GOOD! Then I got a Cook's Illustrated special edition that had a recipe for them, and ever since I saw that I knew I wanted to make them. I had originally planned to make these for a Friday date night dinner, but then I needed to reorder my meal plan a couple weeks ago and decided to have them during the week but just make regular burgers for my kiddos. I didn't know how spicy these would be, and the boy doesn't like spicy.

Green Chile Cheeseburgers
From Cook's Illustrated

3 Anaheim chiles, stemmed, halved lengthwise, and seeded
3 jalapeno chiles, stemmed, halved lengthwise, and seeded
1 onion, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch thick rounds
1 medium garlic clove, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)
table salt and ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds 85 percent lean ground beef
4 slices deli American cheese

Using a charcoal grill, gas grill or indoor grill pan, grill chiles and onion until vegetables are lightly charred and tender. Transfer vegetables to bowl, cover, and let cool 5 minutes. Remove skins from chiles and discard; separate onion rounds into rings.

Transfer chiles, onion, and garlic to food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Transfer all but 1/4 cup chopped chile mixture to empty bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste; set aside. Process remaining mixture until smooth.

Combine beef, pureed chile mixture, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in large bowl and knead gently until well incorporated. Form mixture into four 3/4-inch-thick patties and make shallow indentation in center of each.

Grill burgers, covered, over hot fire until well browned on first side, 3 to 5 minutes. Flip burgers, top with chopped chile mixture and cheese, and continue to grill, covered, until cheese is melted and burgers are cooked to desired doneness, 3 to 5 minutes. Serve.

*****

Our grill was out of commission when I made these, so I roasted the peppers under the broiler and skipped the onion. I added some onion powder to the chiles in the food processor to make up for it a bit. Ours were probably a little more on the hot side because I did the whole chile mixture between two burgers, plus I was only using a pound of ground beef. My only complaint was that I thought the burgers could have used two slices of cheese instead of just one, but if the chile mixture were reduced (or the amount it's supposed to be) one slice would probably be okay. These were definitely tasty and definitely a burger that will grace our table again at some point.

Pesto Pasta Salad with Grilled Chicken

It's definitely summer here in Phoenix, with temperatures reaching up to 115 this past week. Ugh. I keep telling myself that I don't live here for the summer, just a few more months and it will be nice again. Meanwhile I'm trying to stay in the a/c as often as much as I can since even our swimming pool isn't refreshing when it's this hot. I'm trying to find light dinners that don't require a lot of heating up my kitchen...things that I can make early in the day, crockpot recipes, or grilled recipes are high on my list right now.

I recently came across a magazine from America's Test Kitchen (you know, the people that publish my beloved Cook's Illustrated magazine?) called "30-Minute Suppers." The salad pictured on the front was enough to get me to buy it, then when I flipped through it more in-depth I was so happy with my purchase. I'd say I want to make 90% of the recipes in the magazine. And since it's a summer edition a lot of the recipes meet my summer cooking criteria mentioned above.

This is one that jumped out at me right away. After reading through the recipe I figured it was something that could be served hot, room temperature, or cold. Fantastic!! And it has flavors that my whole family will eat which is another plus because I hate dinnertime struggles!

Pesto Pasta Salad with Grilled Chicken
From America's Test Kitchen 30-Minute Suppers Summer 2010 Special Issue

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
2 Tbsp juice from 1 lemon
2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 3/4 pound)
1 pound fusilli
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
3 ounces (about 4 1/2 cups) baby arugula

Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Combine pine nuts, cheese, garlic, basil, and lemon juice in food processor and process until smooth, about 10 seconds. With processor running, slowly pour in 2/3 cup olive oil and process until smooth.

Brush chicken with reamining oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill over hot fire until browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to plate and tent with foil. Wehn cool enough to handle, shred chicken.

Meanwhile, add 1 tablespoon salt and fusilli to boiling water and cook until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water, drain fusilli, and rinse fusilli with cold water. Transfer cooked fusilli to large bowl.

Toss pesto, chicken, tomatoes, and arugula with fusilli, adding reserved cooking water as needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

*****

This was so easy to throw together!! I didn't make my own pesto because I had some jarred in the fridge, and I used spinach instead of arugula. I had meant to grill my chicken earlier in the day but got caught up in other things. This is definitely something that could be thrown together early in the day so dinner was ready to go whenever.

By the way, don't forget to keep a bit of the cooking water out to add in to the salad. I remembered once it was too late (i.e. I had poured the pasta out into a colander already), but I think it was fine without it. Next time I'll be sure to keep some of it to see how it compares.

Cook's Illustrated Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

This was the only new thing we had this past week, so I probably won't bother posting the other recipes. I love meatloaf. My mom makes a version similar to this with bacon on the top, only hers has significantly less bacon. My brother and I would always fight over who got to eat the bacon off the top of the meatloaf because it was so good with the ketchup-y sauce on it. This recipe, though, solves that problem by having bacon go cross-ways on it instead of long-ways. And, yes, those are both official terms.

I had mentioned recently the Best Of Cook's Illustrated magazine I got recently at Costco. This was in it, and I'd been dying to try it. I recently bought a ton of ground beef (okay, not literally a ton, but it was six pounds which is quite a bit) and figured this was a good time to make it. Plus I could get it assembled during naptime and then just throw it in the oven when it was time for dinner. Thankfully I found it typed out online already because you know how I hate to type out recipes if I don't have to.

Cook's Illustrated Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

Brown Sugar - Ketchup Glaze
1/2 cup ketchup or chili sauce
4 tablespoons brown sugar
4 teaspoons cider vinegar or white vinegar

Meat Loaf
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped medium
2 medium cloves garlic , minced
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/2 cup whole milk or plain yogurt
1 pound ground beef chuck
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 pound ground veal
2/3 cup Saltine crackers, crushed (about 16), or quick oatmeal, or 1 1/3 cups fresh bread crumbs
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
6 - 8 ounces bacon, thin sliced (8 to 12 slices, depending on loaf shape)

1. For the glaze: Mix all ingredients in small saucepan; set aside.
2. For the meat loaf: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in medium skillet. Add onion and garlic; sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool while preparing remaining ingredients.
3. Mix eggs with thyme, salt, pepper, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, pepper sauce, and milk or yogurt. Add egg mixture to meat in large bowl along with crackers, parsley, and cooked onion and garlic; mix with fork until evenly blended and meat mixture does not stick to bowl. (If mixture sticks, add additional milk or yogurt, a couple tablespoons at a time until mix no longer sticks.)
4. Turn meat mixture onto work surface. With wet hands, pat mixture into approximately 9-by-5-inch loaf shape. Place on foil-lined (for easy cleanup) shallow baking pan. Brush with half the glaze, then arrange bacon slices, crosswise, over loaf, overlapping slightly and tucking only bacon tip ends under loaf, (see illustration 1, below).
5. Bake loaf until bacon is crisp and loaf registers 160 degrees, about 1 hour. Cool at least 20 minutes. Simmer remaining glaze over medium heat until thickened slightly. Slice meat loaf and serve with extra glaze passed separately.

*****

I used oatmeal for this because it's what I had. I buy instant oatmeal packets at Costco, but none of us like the plain ones. This was a great use for them--two packets was just the right amount! Also, I just used two pounds of ground beef because, again, it's what I had. I ended up brushing some more glaze on top of the bacon when there was about 20 minutes of cooking time left. Oh, and I wrapped a cooling rack in foil and poked some holes in it and placed that on a cookie sheet with the meatloaf on top of the cooling rack. In hindsight I should have covered the cookie sheet as well because it was a pain to clean off the spillage.

This was REALLY good! Like I said, I love meatloaf, so I was really excited to have this. We had leftover mashed potatoes with it from Thanksgiving #2 and some cooked carrots. I will definitely make this again, and laying the bacon cross-wise made sure that everyone had some bacon on their piece and no fights had to take place because of it. And trust me, in this house, a fight would break out over bacon!

Honestly, as much as I liked this, I view meatloaf strictly as a means to have meatloaf sandwiches the next day. As much as I love meatloaf, I love meatloaf sandwiches even more. And that's exactly what we had for dinner the next night. :)

Macaroni and Cheese with Ham and Peas

So I didn't get to go back and update recipes from my hiatus today like I had planned. I had a little breakdown last night with how completely overwhelmed I'm feeling with all the holiday stuff I need to get done and getting ready for a house guest and big event this weekend. The house guest is my brother, so it's not like my house needs to be spotless or anything, but I'd still like it presentable.

Anyway, at some point I'll go back and post at least two recipes I made while I was "gone" because I know I have pictures of what I made. There may be more but now I can only think of those two. I was trying to come up with meals that didn't require a lot of extra ingredients this week, mostly because I was feeling lazy. A couple months ago I spied "Cook's Illustrated All-Time Best Recipes" magazine at Costco. The darn thing just jumped off the rack into my cart...can you believe it?! One of the recipes is Classic Macaroni and Cheese, and there's a variation that adds in ham and peas. I had some ham in the freezer I wanted to use up, and all I needed to buy for the recipe were the two cheeses.

(The downside of Cook's Illustrated recipes are that I have to type them out becuase you have to have a subscription to the website, not just the magazine, to access the recipes on the website.)

Classic Macaroni and Cheese with Ham and Peas

Bread Crumb Topping
6 slices large white sandwich bread, torn into rough pieces
3 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces

Pasta and Cheese
1 pound elbow macaroni
Table salt
5 Tbsp unsalted butter
6 Tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp powdered mustard
1/4 tsp cayenne (optional)
5 cups milk (whole, lowfat, or skim)
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)

For the bread crumb topping: Pulse bread and butter in food processor until crumbs are about 1/8 inch, 10 to 15 1-second pulses. Set aside.

For the pasta and cheese: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat broiler. Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a Dutch oven over high heat. Add macaroni and 1 tablespoon salt; cook until pasta is tender. Drain pasta and set aside in colander.

In now-empty Dutch oven, heat butter over medium-high heat until foaming. Add flour, mustard, and cayenne (if using) and whisk well to combine. Continue whisking until mixture becomes fragrant and deepens in color, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk; bring mixture to boil, whisking constantly (mixture must reach full boil to fully thicken). Reduce heat to medium and simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened to consistency of heavy cream, about 5 minutes. Off heat, whisk in cheeses and 1 teaspoon salt until cheeses are fully melted. Add pasta, ham, and peas and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is steaming and heated through, about 6 minutes.

Transfer mixture to broiler-safe 13x9 inch baking dish and sprinkle evenly with bread crumbs. Broil until crumbs are deep golden brown, 3-5 minutes, rotating pan if necessary for even browning. Cool about 5 minutes, then serve.

*****

This definitely sounds like more work than my usual macaroni and cheese, but I'm curious to try it. I don't think Cook's Illustrated has ever done me wrong, so I have pretty high hopes for this. I always feel kind of guilty if I think about--or actually do--change around a Cook's Illustrated recipe since they go through a lot of work developing them (another reason I love the magazine--you get to read how they came up with the recipe!). I think we may have a salad on the side with this, but since there are peas mixed in, I'm not sure if we'll have another vegetable or not.

*****

Well, this was good, but I'm not sure it was good enough for all the work involved. Or maybe it just seemed like a lot of work because dinner time around here is crazy. For whatever reason both my kids feel the need to be around me, even though daddy is home and hasn't seen them all day. So it could be that it just seemed like I was in the kitchen forever because I had to keep removing my now-walking one year old from the kitchen.

I used spiral pasta because it's what I had, and the boy complained that he didn't like the shape and where were the macaronis. The husband said he'd like it better without the peas. I really didn't think it was any better than my mother-in-law's recipe that I normally make, which is much less time-consuming. I think if you have the time, make this and you'll like it, but it's definitely not something you can rush through with the roux and all that.

(Okay, somehow I never hit Publish Post...oops. Since I still need to post it I will add that the husband and I both liked the leftovers better than the first time we ate it.)

Basil Pork Chops

Sorry for another hiatus! This summer has been absolutely crazy, and really it's not letting up anytime soon (even though summer is almost done). My mom did a staycation this past week at a resort in Scottsdale, so we spent some time up there with her. My friend Jen B. went with us last Wednesday and we hung out at the pool and had lunch. I didn't make dinner because I was still full from the yummy bacon burger I had for lunch--a total indulgence for me! Thursday the boy spent the night with my mom, so the husband, baby, and I went out to dinner at Los Dos Molinos, a Mexican restaurant near us that I'd wanted to try for a long time. Then Friday the husband, baby, and I headed up to the resort for the weekend. It was a great time, although it got off to a really rocky start. We witnessed a horrific car accident. Not a fun way to start our fun weekend--especially since I initially thought the husband had been hit by the car that ran a red light. Oh man...sucky, let me tell you! Anyway, we came home yesterday, but after a big breakfast we weren't really hungry for dinner. So now today it's back to it, but only for a few days. I think next year I'm making no travel plans!!

I had originally slated a new recipe for tonight from the Meal Planning 101 blog that I like so much, but after looking at the recipe again today I decided I didn't want to have to go get ingredients for it. I thought I had more of what it called for, but when I realized I'd need about five things for it I figured it wasn't worth it. Plus I couldn't have made it to the store anyway as the boy napped until 4:15 and the baby is still sleeping! I remembered this recipe that I had made awhile ago and really liked. The mushrooms in it stuck out and is how I remembered it. My mom gave me some mushrooms she wasn't going to use, and they really need to be used up today, so I thought this was perfect for tonight.

Basil Pork Chops

I think on the side we're going to have something similar to a potato recipe I made awhile back from Cook's Illustrated:

Skillet Roasted Potatoes with Chili and Cumin

The chili and cumin is a variation on the original recipe, I'm just going to skillet roast them with the olive oil and salt. When we were at Trader Joe's lately the boy picked up a bag of red, white, and blue potatoes (which is funny since he doesn't like potatoes), so I'm going to use those for it. Not sure on a veggie yet, maybe carrots or green beans because I know I have both of those in the pantry.

Best Buttermilk Pancakes

The husband and I were talking last night about what we should have for our mini date night dinner tonight. Since I lost my meal plan for the week, I couldn't remember what I had slated for it. Seriously, after having two kids, if something isn't written down I have very little chance of remembering it. He said how about brinner (breakfast for dinner)...bacon, eggs, and pancakes. I said it sounded good to me, and there was a recipe in the Cook's Illustrated magazine I just got for buttermilk pancakes that I wanted to try.

Although I honestly feel like I need a nap before embarking on dinner tonight. We left our house this morning at 8:30 and didn't get home until almost 6:00. I had no intention of being gone that long. My cousin is getting married next weekend, and I needed to find a dress for the wedding. We had plans to go shopping with my mom and aunt, then I heard that Target is doing their twice a year huge toy clearance, so instead of leaving at 9:00 like I had originally planned I wanted to leave at 8:30 to swing by Target on the way to my mom's. I cleaned up--I got probably $200 worth of toys for $50. I'm just about set for Christmas for the boy and have some things I can keep on hand for random birthday presents for his friends. My mom, aunt, the boys, and I got to the mall around 10:45 I think it was and didn't emerge until almost 3:00. It's been a long time since I spent that much time in the mall. I got some great deals though. I found a cute dress for my cousin's wedding, and I also got three pairs of Lucky Brand pants (two were $18 each!!), a Lucky Brand shirt, and a Calvin Klein shirt--all five of those things for $120! I was quite pleased with myself. We also got shoes and socks for the boy for the wedding because he's going to be the ring bearer. We got back to my mom's, I fed the baby, the boy and I went swimming, and we headed home...and stopped at another Target. I know. You're exhausted just reading this aren't you? I definitely did my part to help the economy today. And I can't wait to wear my new clothes! ;)

Anyway, pancakes. I'm excited to try this. So far everything from Cook's Illustrated I've made has been fantastic. I really love that magazine...how they explain how they came to the final recipe, what they tried that didn't work, etc. I'm so glad I got a subscription.

Best Buttermilk Pancakes

2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp table salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1-2 tsp vegetable oil

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Spray wire rack set inside baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray; place in oven. Whisk flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together in a medium bowl. In second medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, sour cream, eggs, and melted butter. Make well in center of dry ingredients and pour in wet ingredients; gently stir until just combined (batter should remain lumpy with few streaks of flour). Do not overmix. Allow batter to sit 10 minutes before cooking.

Heat 1 tsp oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Using paper towels, carefully wipe out oil, leaving thin film of oil on bottom and sides of pan. Using 1/4 cup measure, portion batter into pan in 4 places. Cook until edges are set, first side is golden brown, and bubbles on surface are just beginning to break, 2-3 minutes. Using thin, wide spatula, flip pancakes and continue to cook until second side is golden brown, 1-2 minutes longer. Serve pancakes immediately, or transfer to wire rack in preheated oven. Repeat with remaining batter, using remaining oil as necessary.

*****

I'm pretty happy with my usual pancake recipe, but since these are supposedly "the best" I figured they were worth a try. Of course, my usual ones I always have those ingredients on hand, and buttermilk isn't something I normally have in my fridge.

*****

These were pretty good pancakes. I have a tendency to smoosh down pancakes after I flip them, and I think I need to stop so they'll be lighter and fluffier. There was only one left from the whole batch--the husband kept going back for more!

Alabama Barbecued Chicken

Happy Saturday everyone! I for one am so glad that this past week is done...it was a tough week at my house, and I am ready to start anew! Today is off to a great start. I took the boys to a play date with some old friends. We used to all get together very often, but once we had kids it's pretty rare we all get to hang out. I think the last time we were all together was roughly a year ago because my friend April was still pregnant, and her son is going to be a year old later this month.

So, are you getting tired of recipes from Cook's Illustrated yet? Me neither!! I'm actually getting my meal plan for the next week together and need to get out the issues I have to figure out one more dinner for my plan.

This one is from the grilling issue. The white barbecue sauce sounded really intriguing. My friend Jen B. made this recently and really liked it. The only downside is it's insanely hot here today (seriously...like 110 outside or something ridiculous), so grilling is going to suck, but I'm pretty sure grilling the chicken this way, I don't have to stand out there with it or check on it very often even. Awesome because I am all about the a/c today!

Now, because I'm super lazy and Jen B. did all the work already, I'm just going to copy straight from her blog for the posting.

Alabama Barbecued Chicken

For chicken:
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 whole chicken (3-4 lbs.)
2 cups of hickory wood chips
Canola oil for the grill
White Barbecue Sauce (see below)

For White Barbecue Sauce:
3/4 cup of mayo
2 Tablespoons of cider vinegar
2 teaspoons of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of prepared horseradish
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

Directions:
If you have a grill with three burners, heat the outer two to medium, leaving the center one off. Or light a charcoal fire and let it burn until the charcoal is covered with white ash and about medium-hot; bank half the coals to one side of the grill, half to the other. Sprinkle wood chips, that have been soaked in water over the hot coals.

While the grill is heating, remove the giblets (if there are any) from the cavity of the chicken. Flip the chicken onto its breast. Using poultry shears, cut down both sides of the backbone from tail to neck; discard backbone. Or, if you don't have shears, lay the bird on its back, insert a long heavy knife into the body cavity and press down hard with a rocking motion to cut down through both sides of the backbone. Open the bird out onto your work surface, breast side up. Make sure that the legs are turned inward. Using your fist or a mallet, wallop the bird on the breast, hard enough to dislodge the center bones and flatten out the breast. Twist the last joint of the wings up over the breast and then down behind the "shoulders," tucking them in firmly to keep them in place during grilling.

Smear both sides of the chicken with the sauce. Lay in the center of the grill (it will not be over direct heat). Cook, without turning, basting from time to time with any remaining sauce, until the juices run clear when a thigh is pierced deeply with a fork (an instant-read thermometer should register about 160 degrees when inserted at the thickest part of the thigh), about 45 minutes. If you're cooking over charcoal, you'll want to add more charcoal to the fire after an hour or so - the internal temperature of the grill should stay at about 325 degrees. Remove the chicken to a cutting board. Baste one last time with the sauce. It will lose less juice if you cover it loosely with foil and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Cut the chicken into quarters (or smaller pieces). Transfer a portion to each of four dinner plates and you're ready to serve.

*****

I don't have wood chips to use, so I hope it turns out okay without them. I'm going to make Cruncy Peanut Slaw that we had a couple weeks ago in pork wraps, but it was just so darn tasty I want to eat it again on its own. I might grill some potatoes to have as well, we'll see how I'm feeling as dinnertime approaches.

*****

This chicken was REALLY good. I don't normally eat the skin from chicken, but I did with this. The sauce on its own tasted like glorified mayonnaise, but on the finished chicken it was fantastic! This is my favorite way to cook whole chickens now--not necessarily this sauce, but cutting out the backbone and flattening the chicken and grilling it. Yum!

I did end up making the peanut slaw, but I didn't have green onions. It was fine without the cilantro the first time I made it, but I think it really needs to have the green onions. Also it's best eaten the same day you make it...the leftovers weren't nearly as good as when it was fresh.

Skillet Roasted Potatoes with Chili and Cumin

These are the potatoes I'm making to go with the Tex Mex Burgers we're having tonight, another Cook's Illustrated recipe. I'm so glad I sent in my subscription form for that magazine--I can't wait until I start getting it on a regular basis!! It occurred to me that we have a side burner on our grill, so I wonder if I could do the potatoes outside, too, so I don't have to heat up the house by using the stove. I'm not sure if I can use my normal cookware out there though? I don't know...I'll have to do some investigating.

Cook's Illustrated Skillet Roasted Potatoes with Chili and Cumin

1.5 pounds small or medium Red Bliss potatoes, scrubbed and unpeeled
2 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne

If using small potatoes, halve each potato. If using medium potatoes, quarter each potato to create 3/4 to 1 inch chunks. Rinse cut potatoes in cold water and drain well; spread on clean kitchen towel and thoroughly pat dry.

Stir together salt, chili powder, paprika, cumin, and cayenne in small bowl. Set aside.

Heat oil in heavy-bottomed 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add potatoes cut side down in single layer; cook, without stirring, until golden brown (oil should sizzle but not smoke), 5-7 minutes. Using tongs, turn potatoes skin side down if using halved small potatoes or second cut side down if using quartered medium potatoes; cook, without stirring, until deep golden brown, 5-6 minutes longer. Stir potatoes, then redistribute in a single layer. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until potatoes are tender, 6-9 minutes.

When potatoes are tender, sprinkle with spice mixture and toss or stir gently to combine. Cook seasoned potatoes over medium-low heat until spices are fragrant, about 30 seconds.

*****

These were some tasty potatoes. The texture of them was perfect--just crispy enough on the outside and perfectly tender on the inside. I think I'd cut back on the cayenne next time and maybe bump up the cumin a bit. The husband thought these smelled like BO, but they sure tasted yummy!

(There's a picture of them on the Tex-Mex Burger post below)

Tex-Mex Stuffed Burgers

Here's another recipe from the latest Cook's Illustrated I purchased, the Summer Entertaining one. It's so stinkin' hot here in Phoenix I am trying to turn to the grill for as many dinners as I can. Yeah it sucks standing out there in the heat at the hot grill, but at least my house isn't heating up from the oven or stove. Although, I do have plans to use the stove for some potatoes I'm making to go along with this (another recipe from this issue). I had completely forgotten this is what I had planned for tonight, so I got really excited when I checked my menu plan for the week and saw this listed for tonight.

Cook's Illustrated Tex-Mex Stuffed Burgers

1.5 pounds ground chuck
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro leaves
4 tsp minced canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
4 tsp yellow mustard
4 tsp taco seasoning (from packet)

Break beef into small pieces in medium bowl and add cheese, cilantro, chilies, mustard, and taco seasoning. Using fork, toss until evenly distributed. Divide mixture into 4 equal portions, lightly pack into 1-inch thick patties and grill on hot side of grill, uncovered, until well seared on first side, 2-4 minutes. Using a wide metal spatula, flip burgers and continue grilling, about 4 minutes for well done. While burgers grill, toast buns on cooler side of grill, if desired.

*****

I'm really excited to try this. Apparently so is the husband because he set his Facebook status that he's excited for Tex-Mex Burgers. Usually when I use chipotle chilies I use one or two then freeze the rest and forget they're there, so this week I planned on using chipotles later in the week so I avoid that problem. I think the only change I'm making is that I'm not using ground chuck, and I'm only using a pound of ground beef. Dinner can't get here soon enough!

*****

These were very tasty burgers. Although, they needed a little something more...either a slice of cheese on top or some kind of creamy sauce. The husband put ranch on his and liked it, but I thought that seemed weird. Maybe some kind of sour cream sauce or a chipotle mayonnaise? I don't know. I'd definitely make them again, though.

Hummus

We're having falafel for dinner tonight, but I made a new hummus recipe to go with it. I really like my usual recipe for it, but this weekend I happened upon a different issue of Cook's Illustrated--Summer Entertaining--so of course I had to buy it. There was a recipe in it for "Best Hummus" and I figured it was worth trying since everything else I've made from any Cook's Illustrated has been fantastic.

Restaurant Style Hummus from Cook's Illustrated

1/4 cup water
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
6 Tablespoons well stirred tahini
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 15 ounce can drained and rinsed chickpeas
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin
pinch of cayenne
about 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Combine the water and lemon juice in one bowl, and the tahini and oil in another. Set aside about 12 of the whole chickpeas for a garnish.

Put the chickpeas, salt, garlic, cumin, and cayenne in a food processor and process for about 15 seconds. Scrap down the sides of the processor. Then add the lemon water mix through the feed tube with the processor running for about 1 minute. Scrap down the sides several times. Then add the oil and tahini, with the processor running, until the hummus is fluffy.

Put the hummus in a bowl, garnish with the cilantro and whole chickpeas, and drizzle with some olive oil if you want.

*****

This is good hummus, but I think I like my usual hummus recipe better. I think this one needs a little something more, but I'm not sure what. Plus mine is a lot lower in fat--six tablespoons of tahini packs a lot of flavor but also a lot of fat.