Too full to blog . . .
We hope everyone had a good day.
Food & Dining
Independance Day 2008
After I set out 10 little flags lining the walkway to the door today, we spent our day relaxing and barbecuing. The meal was spare ribs, corn on the cob and squash medley. I read an article about the meal being served to many of our troops in Iraq, which, coincidentally, was also ribs and corn on the cob. Instead of squash, they were served a dessert of red, white and blue cake.
Kentucky Wonder
In the garden, the green beans are growing. By the weekend, we will most likely have enough to serve as a side dish for our traditional Chicken Fried Steak entree.
Each spring for the past several, I planted ‘Kentucky Wonder’ green beans in the garden. Most years they produce enough beans for us and our neighbor who gladly accepts the excess beans.
Image: Kentucky Wonder Bean Buds.
About Kentucky Wonder beans:
This old-time country pole bean with brown seeds is a favorite. Beans are approximately 6″-8″ inches long, slender and stringless. Will produce heavily if harvested diligently. This bean has been popular since the mid 1800s.
We prepare the beans according to a recipe we both like a lot.
Chop the beans into one-inch pieces, bring them to a boil in an inch or so of water in a large pan. After boiling for three or four minutes, strain the beans and set aside.
In the same pan, render a couple of slices of chopped bacon until almost crisp. Next, add a couple of cloves of garlic and a quarter of an onion finely chopped. When the onion becomes carmelized, add the beans back to the pan. De-glaze the pan with a tablespoon of white vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar or sweetener of your choice.
Thoroughly stir the beans to re-heat and coat with the pan drippings and then serve.
Saturday Burger BBQ
I can’t believe I ate the whole thing – so say some of the 1970’s Alka Seltzer commercials.
At the behest of a celebrity chef on TV, Damsel and I set about grinding up some beef brisket today and made these huge cheeseburgers. She got about half of hers down, but I trooped on and consumed the entire meal. My burger was topped with lettuce, tomato, avocado, sauteed mushrooms, onion, mustard and mayonnaise. On the side was a rather healthy serving of butternut squash.
Now this was a whopper – that mess they crank out at Booger King can’t hold a candle to the meal we had today.
Construction of a real whopper: grill, melt the Irish cheddar, stack and serve.
Summer Garden Preview
We expect to have a pretty good crop of vegetables in our garden this summer. There are several kinds of squash growing (pumpkin, crookneck, zucchini), our usual green beans, hot peppers and several varieties of tomatoes including these heirloom tomatoes. The heirlooms are especially flavorful in salads or slices in sandwiches.
Hula Chicken
Today’s gourmet dinner consists of Hula Chicken with Pineapple Barbecue Sauce, roasted acorn squash and blended wild and long-grain rice. The chicken is prepared with boneless, skinless chicken breasts butterflied, pounded and rolled with prosciutto and Havarti cheese. These are then floured and pan fried in extra-virgin olive oil.
The pineapple BBQ sauce was the big hit here. The ingredients for the sauce are fresh chopped pineapple, chopped red onion, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, tamari sauce, tomato sauce and dried Bing cherries.
The dish is served with portions of rice, squash and the rolled chicken topped with a generous helping of the sauce. It was just wonderful. It just might qualify to compete with some of the gourmet meals that our Hawaiian friend Kini has on his site.
Damsel modified the Hula Chicken recipe from one that Rachael Ray had on her show last week. Click on the thumbnail for a bigger image.