Chicken Kabobs... and Plan B

My husband and I recently completed Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University through our church, and we met some fun friends in the process.  (Side note: The course is worth it for the lessons on insurance and investing alone.)  Last night we had the two couples with whom we were paired for the course over for dinner, and it was awesome!  The plan was to grill, and what a great plan it was!  Then our grill got buried in white stuff.  That's right- April 16th, and a sudden snow.  Welcome to Minnesota.  Fortunately, we had a Plan B: The Pampered Chef Double Burner Grill Pan!  Read on to see how completely salvaged our menu!

Chicken Kabob Marinade

chefjennylyn.com

1 pack Italian salad dressing mix
3 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 tsp. pressed garlic
1 tbsp. honey

Whisk all ingredients together, and marinate meat and vegetables a minimum of 3 hours.  (Overnight is great.) 

Intended ratio: 1 lb. chicken / 5 different vegetables / 1 recipe marinade

Note: My meat/vegetable-to-marinade ratio was way off, so I think I ended up with something a lot milder than intended.  I didn't realize it until I was already marinating everything.  Oh, well. 

As always, everything is measured before adding it to the Stainless Mixing Bowl.  I'm using a Measuring Spoon, a Measuring Cup, the Easy Read Mini Measuring Cup, an Easy Read Measuring Cup, and the Garlic Press.  That's the Large Cutting Board, as always.  Then I'll whisk everything with the Stainless Whisk, one of my favorite tools ever!

You know what I love?  Beautiful vegetables.  My mushrooms are in a Stainless Mesh Colander, and you can see the Bamboo Grinder Set ready to go.  How about being able to tell when you're almost out of salt or pepper before, well, you're out of salt or pepper?

Tip: If you're only using half of your bell pepper, leave the seed bulb intact in the reserved half.  It makes it last longer.  Background: 5" Santoku Knife from the Forged Cutlery Collection.  Best.  Knife.  Ever.

Does it not just make you happy to see your healthy dinner coming together?  Veggies are in a Stainless Mixing Bowl with a Mix 'n Scraper, and chicken is in the Classic Batter Bowl with a second Mix 'n Scraper.  Marinate away, delicious food!

Whoa - I stirred in a pound of mushrooms.  Things just got real.

This was the point when I realized the snow wasn't stopping, and I might not be able to get to the grill by the time I needed to cook.  Can you see how hard it's coming down out the window?  Can you see that my grill is already covered?  Yep.

The BBQ Skewer Set comes with four skewers, and they're loooong.  As in, "Thank you, Stoneware Bar Pan for being awesome" long.  I made sure six skewers would fit, and then I portioned my chicken where the Large Cutting Board's well could catch any juices.  P.S. Those are food handling gloves.  So handy for jobs like skewering raw chicken!

These look good!  I put them in the oven and used the broiler for about 15 minutes.  Then I finished them in the Grill Pan because I wanted grilled kabobs.

The Double Burner Grill Pan and a set of Chef's Tongs will be your best friends if you want the grilling experience minus the grill.  Live in an apartment where you're not allowed to have one on your deck?  Problem solved.

I grilled vegetables, too!  My plan was to do these on the Grill Tray out back, but this worked and made the house smell delicious.

Then the corn.  Like the chicken, I started it in the broiler and finished it in the Grill Pan.

Have I told you grilled corn is one of my favorite foods?  It is.

I love, love, love having friends over for dinner parties!  Maybe if I'm super nice to her, Bekah will let me share the recipe for the amazing beer bread she and Jason brought.  The stuff was addictive!

Good times with good friends! Now my heart is all warm and fuzzy, and I need to get the next dinner on the calendar!

 

That's me with the kabob.  I think I was giddy that I didn't ruin dinner due to completely switching gears at the last minute.  How cool is it that my husband will still pose with me when I'm cradling a stinking chicken kabob?  He's the best!

Happy grilling, be it indoor, outdoor, or anything in between!

 

 

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E-mail me: chefjennylyn[at]gmail.com

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Filet Mignon with Chive-Horseradish Butter

 

Today is February 6th.  Valentine's Day is one week from tomorrow.  For a lot of people, that means a crowded restaurant, an overpriced meal, and sense that you've been herded in and out like cattle.  The solution?  Cook at home, friends!  A very nice meal can be prepared at home for a reasonable price, and you don't even have to tip at the end!  I'm all for really good food in my own house, so here's one of my favorite steak recipes.

 

Here are the other two recipes shown:

Creamy Mushroom Fettuccini

Roasted Broccoli

 

Filet Mignon with Chive-Horseradish Butter

chefjennylyn.com

 

5 tsp. butter, softened

1 tbsp. prepared horseradish

1 tbsp. minced fresh chives

4 beef tenderloin steaks

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil (for brushing steak)

 

Combine butter, horseradish, and chives in a small bowl; refrigerate 20 minutes.

 

Brush steaks with olive oil, and sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper.

 

Heat grill pan over medium-high heat.  Add steaks to pan, and cook 4-7 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.  (This soooo depends on the thickness of your steak!) Scoop butter mixture onto each steak.

 

I cut the butter into small pieces using a Quikut Paring Knife, and it's softening in a 1-Cup Prep Bowl.  I'm mincing chives with my favorite knife, the 5" Santoku from the Forged Cutlery Collection.  Here's a great tip on mincing, slicing, and dicing: When you get to the end, just let it go.  Don't try to get every last bit, or you'll be much more likely to cut yourself.  For those of us who are simple home cooks, no one expects heroism.  This is how I've used great knives without falling victim to the blade.  I have no problem throwing out twenty-five cents worth of green onion tops.  As always, I'm using the Large Cutting Board for all of that beautiful surface area.

I love that the shape of the Measuring Spoons is such that they get down inside spice bottles, horseradish bottles, etc.

Let's just take a moment to admire this beautiful meat.  Scroll to the bottom for a breakdown of what this meal cost to prepare, but for now, is this not the thickest steak you've ever seen?  To be honest, I like to buy filet as an entire tenderloin, and then I cut the steaks myself, but the store was out of tenderloins, and I had to buy pre-cut.  If I'd had it my way, the total ounces here would have been six steaks, not four.  Oh, well.

One thing I love about the Large Cutting Board is that one side has wells, and the other doesn't.  Once I've finished my vegetables and non-meat items, I can flip it over for beef preparation.  Notice I said NON-MEAT items - Don't do meat and then flip... obviously.  I brushed the meat with olive oil using my Chef's Silicone Kitchen Brush (hidden by my hand), and I had my olive oil in a Prep Bowl.  Then a sprinkle of Pampered Pantry Salt and Pepper with my Bamboo Grinder Set, and I'm ready to go!

This is a great time to use the "Count Up" feature on the Clock/Timer.  When the pan is sizzling and the vent is running (Side note: Turn on the vent fan.), you don't want to be tracking how long something has cooked.

Cook on one side.  Flip.  Finish.  Boom!  I'm using the Chef's Tongs here because they're gentle with that tender, beautiful meat, and they won't melt in my hot pan.

 

It only seems right to show the steak one more time since that last picture was so smoky.  Let me break down what this meal cost to prepare at home.  This is enough for four servings of everything.

 

Beef Tenderloin: $9.99/lb.  I spent $23, but my steaks were crazy thick.

Horseradish: $1.12

Broccoli: $2.99

Pasta: $2.38

Mushrooms: $5.00

Onion: $1.00

Chicken Stock: $.89

 

Everything else was on-hand (olive oil, butter, salt, pepper, etc.), so the grand total was....

 

$36.29 for four people = $9.07 per plate.

 

*** If you order a grill pan from me, I'll pay your shipping.  Happy grilling!***

(Contact me directly for this offer at the phone or email below.)

 

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Shop Online 24/7 at pamperedchef.biz/jennylyn

E-mail me: chefjennylyn[at]gmail.com

Call me up: (205) 585-2464

 

 

 

 



Eggplant, Tomato, and Feta Salad

I'm obsessed with feta cheese. I mean the kind of obsessed where I buy it by the pound at Whole Foods on a regular basis. Ok, so I'll be honest - a pound of feta lasts me a good, long time, but it still sounds cool to say I buy it a pound at a time. This salad has feta in it, but don't too excited unless you add more than the recipe states. Of course, I'm not saying you have to follow the recipe as written. Just don't get mad that I put feta in the title when you only get one tablespoon per serving. I got this recipe from Cooking Light, and I was smitten as soon as I the ingredient combination. I'd describe this salad as something you'd find on the bar at Whole Foods. It's an intriguing combination of flavors, it breaks outside the box just a little bit, and it leaves you feeling fresh instead of gross after you've eaten it. So there. Decide from that and the ingredient list below if this is something you want in your life.

Eggplant, Tomato, and Feta Salad

chefjennylyn.com

1 (1-pound) eggplant, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices

2 cups coarsely chopped tomato

1/4 cup (1 oz.) crumbled feta cheese

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons capers

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 garlic clove, minced

Prepare grill or grill pan.

Lightly coat both sides of eggplant slices with cooking spray; grill 5 minutes on each side or until tender. Cool; cut each eggplant slice into quarters. Combine eggplant, tomato, and remaining ingredients in a large bowl, and toss gently.

Yield: 4 servings

The 7" Santoku Knife from the Forged Cutlery Collection is my favorite for eggplant. It gets right through the skin because of its sharp blade, but it's also large enough to keep your hands at a safe distance. Cutting things with knives that aren't the right size (example: baby carrots with a 7" Santoku) is a great way to injure yourself in the kitchen. And by injure, I mean horrify.

Look at that Grill Pan go! This is perfect for people like me who - cough, cough, um, well - don't own a grill. Also, how handy is it to just pull a pan out when you want fresh grilled corn? I'm piling my cooked eggplant on a Dots Salad Plate from the Simple Additions Collection.

The Large Cutting Board across the sink is a pretty normal site in my kitchen. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I lack counter space. Thank you, Large Cutting Board, for being my hero. my tomatoes are in an Easy Read Measuring Cup, and my red wine vinegar is in its baby brother, the Easy Read Mini Measuring Cup. I've never had anyone say he or she didn't love these cups after purchasing them. They're incredibly handy, and they nest inside one another for easy storage. I've got feta in a Measuring Cup and olive oil in and Adjustable Measuring Spoon. Then there's balsamic vinegar in the Scoop & Measure plus spices in a Pinch Bowl. See those tomato cores on the board? Thanks to the Core & More, I didn't waste half my tomatoes trying to cut around them.

Ok, so my "remaining ingredients" are whisked together in a Stainless Mixing Bowl just to make sure everything's incorporated before I add the eggplant, tomatoes, and feta. Since eggplant is pretty absorbent, this seems like a good call. The recipe says to cool the eggplant, so I've got it laid out on the Cooling Rack. Like the Large Cutting Board, this fits across the sink instead of demanding counter space. Love that feature!

Stack a few pieces of eggplant, make sure your fingers are out of the way, and cut into quarters. Don't try to be a hero and do too many slices at once, or you'll have a blade vs. flesh accident. Grilled eggplant is slippery, and you're asking for trouble if you get crazy with it. Again, I'm using the 7" Santoku from the Forged Cutlery Collection for all my eggplant sliciness.

Ok, so here's what people are saying about this salad:

"The blend of flavors blew my mind - I mean, eggplant, tomato, and feta - aaahhh!" - Jenny C.

"I always thought I liked eggplant, and this confirmed it. I do, in fact, like eggplant." - Jenny-Lyn

"I laughed, I cried, I decided to make it again sometime." - J. Carden

Like the products you saw used?

Shop Online 24/7 at pamperedchef.biz/jennylyn

E-mail me: chefjennylyn[at]gmail.com

Call me up: (205) 585-2464