f00die

I got inspired watching Chef John Bull rock some delicious looking Jerk Chicken on Sunday. His recipe was a bit hard to follow, so I took one out of Chris Schlesinger’s License to Grill and adapted for what I had on hand.

• juice from 2 limes
• 3 scallions
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 1/3 cup honey mustard
• 1/2 t cayenne
• 1 T coriander seed
• 1 T green peppercorns
• 1 T ground allspice
• 2 T brown sugar
• 1 t each dried basil, oregano and thyme
• 1 t salt

Grind the spices your spare coffee grinder (you have one, right?), then blend everything in a food processor. Should make a saucey paste; enough for 6-8 split chicken breasts. Coat the chicken, cover with plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge for at least an hour, but not more than two or the lime juice will start “cooking” the chicken too much and toughen it. You want to grill the chicken slowly over indirect heat so the sugars in the marinade don’t burn, maybe 30-40 minutes.

Sunday

• Jerk Chicken
• Quinoa w/ Grilled Zucchini

Monday

• Carrot Slaw
• Leftovers

Tuesday

• Crustless Potato & Leek Quiche
• Sauteed Asparagus

Wednesday

• Seared Scallops w/ Chive-Walnut Pesto
• Coconut Jasmine Rice
• Glazed Carrots w/ Ginger & Rosemary

Thursday

• Jerk Tofu Cutlets (had some leftover marinade)
• Kale Mashed Potatoes
• Leftovers

Friday

• Date Night / Flatbreads?

I haven’t even made this yet but it sounded good. The idea hit me on the way to work this morning.

Chive-Walnut Pesto:

• a bunch of fresh chives
• 1 small clove garlic
• 1/4 cup toasted walnut pieces
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• a couple grinds of salt

Sear the scallops on both sides. Place on a bed of Jasmine Rice (or quinoa mabye?). Spoon pesto over the top. Serve w/ lemon wedges.

It’s one of the things that got us through the winter up here. I hope I can still enjoy it as the weather heats up.

Just before you go to bed put the following in the crockpot.

• 2 cups steel cut oats
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• pinch of salt
• 8 cups water

You can spray the inside of the pot with some non-stick spray oil. Mine usually sticks anyway, but I think it helps at least. Turn the pot onto low. In the morning you’ll have some yummy oatmeal. Store it in the fridge all week. Each morning scoop some in a bowl, add some milk and sliced bananas and microwave.

Optional things you can add before cooking:

• add 1/2 cup of raisins. Personally, I don’t like the resulting texture.
• A couple of tablespoons of butter cut in small pieces.

Rumor has it that Oprah loves this recipe.

Jennifer & I went to a thing at the Natick Community Organic Farm on Saturday. It was billed as a “workshop” but really just ended up being a nice 2 hour tour of the farm and an informative Q&A session with Director, Lynda Simkins. Jennifer blogged her excellent notes from the tour.

Things I went away excited about:

• Planting some early season stuff, like spinach, kale and chard
• Expanding our garden for next year by tarping over the future areas during this summer.
• Building some small hoop-house structures with wire or PVC and something called “remay”. These can be used to protect against frost and bugs.

Sunday

• Pan-seared T-bone Steaks w/ Shallot & Red Wine Sauce
• Kale & White Bean Cassarole
• Banana Cream Pie

Monday

• Eggs in a Nest
• Leftover Cassarole

Tuesday

• Pizza w/ Pineapple & Tomatoes (1/2 Mushrooms)

Wednesday

• Black Bean Quesadillas
• Roasted Paprika Potatoes

Thursday

• Pasta w/ Fresh Tomato Sauce
• Steamed Broccoli

Friday

• Kung Pao Tofu

Notes:

It’s already Monday morning as I’m writing this up so including some updates here. Yes, I made a Banana Cream Pie. It would have been better served in a bowl. The filling just didn’t set all the way, but not sure if I needed a bit more cornstarch or just more time in the fridge.

The steaks were amazing. It was actually the first time for us having actual steaks from the CSA share. We were warned that they would be very unlike traditional, corn-fed and thoroughly marbled beef. This was true. There was some additional chewing effort involved and the taste was more… earthy? Delicious.

I’m just impressed with how much thought actually went into this. Click for the punchline.

I came across what I thought sounded like a good “Web 2.0″ foodie site today: Cookthink.com

After a couple of search attempts I’m wondering if maybe I’m missing something. The UI is not immediately grok-able. And no matter what I indicate I’m “craving” I end up at a recipe for Avocado Crostini. Setting aside the fact that I really love Avocado Crostini, I don’t see the connection to the terms I was putting in–gnocchi, italian. I can only assume that the site hasn’t collected enough tag information to give reliable recommendations. That or it just knows me better than I think.

Sunday

• Pork Chops w/ Soy-Orange Glaze
• Mashed Potatoes & Carrots
• Salad w/ shaved fennel, walnuts and oranges

Monday

• Gnocchi w/ Marinara sauce
• Leftover salad

Tuesday

• T.J.’s Tamales
• Tomato Rice
• Roasted Green Beans

Wednesday

• Leftovers

Thursday

• Broccoli & Cauliflower Dum
• Quinoa

Friday

• Dinner @ a restaurant TBD

Sunday

• Ecuadorian Potato Stew w/ Chicken

Monday

• Tofu Tacos – tofu scram w/ garlic, cumin & chili powder in tortillas
• Carrot Slaw

Tuesday

• Rotini w/ Broccoli Rabe & Sun-dried tomatoes
• Salad

Wednesday

• Leftovers

Thursday

• Heart-shaped Pineapple Pizza

Friday

• Moosewood Mac & Cheese
• Braised Kale w/ Tomatoes