Damsel made me this great looking and great tasting omelet for my Easter morning breakfast. I had the second half of this along with a couple of sausage and some shredded potatoes for breakfast this morning. Monday morning comfort food . . .
Food & Dining
Stir Fry Chicken
Today’s heart-healthy meal is stir-fry chicken. Broccoli, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, water chestnuts, spinach, coriander, savoy cabbage and zucchini with chicken medallions topped with scallions. This was very tasty. Not seen in the photo, but enjoyed very much is a TsingTao on the side.
Tuscan Blue Rosemary
The popular herb Rosemary is also commonly used as a decorative shrub and as topiary. It is native to the Mediterranean but also does well in Southern California. The Rosemary name has nothing to do with Rose or Mary – it comes from the Latin name for the shrub which literally means ‘dew of the sea.’ Rosemary has a reputation as a remedy for various ailments and is said to improve memory.
We have several bushes in the back yard which give us a year-round supply of the herb for the kitchen and other culinary uses – we use the thicker woody stems as skewers for shish-kebabs. Sometimes we will throw some Rosemary stems in the barbecue to add flavor to grilled chicken, pork or beef.
If you look closely at the little blue flowers, you will see a very pretty pattern that resembles an iris or similar flower. Of course, the bees are attracted to the flowers too as seen in the image above.
Click on the image below for a very big picture.
Camera: Canon EOS 400D Rebel XTi, EF-S 18-55mm, f3.5-5.6 zoom lens.
Happy St. Patricks Day!
Well, a day early, but we celebrated with our traditional Irish treat:
What else?
Saturday Gourmet
Today’s menu: Chicken Saltimbocca with pasta and marinara sauce.
This recipe features chicken tenders pounded flat and topped with prosciutto, spinach and shredded cheese, all rolled up and pan cooked in olive oil. The pasta was laced with broccoli and the leftover spinach.
Outstanding!
Tex-Mex Chicken Chili Verde
Beautiful! The chili is made using two shredded chicken breasts, 4 large tomatillos, 2 Anaheim chilis, 1 cup broccoli florettes, 1 cubed potato, 2 celery sticks, ½ brown onion, 2 cloves garlic, 2 14 oz. cans chicken broth and a tablespoon of flower. It’s seasoned with salt, pepper, a teaspoonful of ancho chili powder, a bay leaf and a tablespoonful of cumin. Garnish with avocado slices.
Start out with a couple of large boneless skinless chicken breasts. Cover the chicken with chicken broth in a pan and poach for about 30 minutes or until well done. Remove and set the chicken aside to cool. Put four large tomatillos (or enough for about a half-pound) into the hot broth and cook for about 10 minutes. The tomatillos will be done when the skins become translucent – you can tell by the change in color.
Put the two Anaheim chili peppers directly on a burner set to low heat on the stove top. Turn the peppers as the outer skin becomes singed to blacken all sides. After the skin is singed, cut the peppers lengthwise into several slices. Scrape out the seeds and discard. Take a table knife and remove the singed skins and discard. Chop the remaining chili pepper flesh into half-inch squares.
Next, shred the chicken with a couple of forks. Season with salt, pepper and ancho chili powder. Put into the crock pot with diced potatoes, broccoli florettes, coarsely chopped celery, chopped onion, the chili pepper squares and a couple cloves of minced garlic. Transfer the chicken broth and the tomatillos into a blender and puree. Add pureed tomatillos to the crockpot. Add enough additional chicken broth to cover the ingredients along with a tablespoon of flour. Cover the crockpot and cook on high for about four hours. Serve in bowls and garnish with freshly sliced avocado slices. Season to taste.
Delicious and waistline friendly. Serves four to six. Click on the image to enlarge.
Superbowl BBQ
What a great Sunday! After a nice outing to the shooting range, we came home and prepared our annual Superbowl Barbecue. The game is great (still watching it as I type), and the meal was outstanding. The chili had been cooking all day in the crockpot and was ready by the time the hamburgers and hot dogs went on the grill. The menu consisted of oven-baked potato wedges, chili dogs and chili-cheese-avocado burgers. Very filling – we took our walk while the Weirdos were performing at halftime. I think that was the name of the group.
Damsel took these photos of the food.