Stuffed chicken thighs

Had a first go at chicken thighs stuffed with a spinach parmesan stuffing.

Overall, I liked how the chicken turned out. It produced a lot of sauce, so it would have been good to serve over something that could use the sauce (rice, pasta, steamed veggies, ...).  I also think it would have presented better sliced in 3 or 4 slices to show off the stuffing.

Stir Fry in Seattle

Pork dish in the wok

I spent the weekend with a friend in Seattle and we had a number of culinary adventures. I brought some lovely tomatoes and peppers from home that we were drowning in. So our goal was to come up with some simple dinners that would make good use of them. On the final night, we picked up some lovely pork at the farmers market and made a stir fry in a wok.

This worked well on all counts. Easy to prepare, quick to cook, looked and tasted great.

We made a dredged the pork in seasoned flour. And added a sauce of corn starch, soy sauce, and sesame oil.

Low carb burger

We've been experimenting with low-carb stuff.
So I wanted to make burgers, but decided to skip the bun.
Mixed into the ground beef some wheat germ, almond meal and grated Romano cheese.
While I was grilling the patties I grilled some onion slices on the side.

After flipping the burger I put on a little BBQ sauce and a slice of cheese.
When the burger was done I put a little water in the pan and put a lid on to melt the cheese.
Garnished with a slice of tomato and some slices of avocado.

Had to eat with a knife and fork, but other than that it seemed to fill the burger need.

Summer sauté

I hit upon a summer sauté that was a hit with the wife.
I didn't measure anything, so these are my best estimates ...

• One leek sliced.
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 Tbs butter
• One zucchini cubed.
• Two fully cooked sausages (I used italian with cheese)
• 1/4 cup almond meal
• 3 fresh tomatoes
• 1/4 cup Grated romano cheese
• Some fresh basil
• Spices to taste (I used Dukes Powder II)
• 1/4 cup Sour cream

To prepare:

• Heat olive oil and butter in a large heavy sauté pan. 
• Brown sausages. 
• Add leeks halfway through browning. 
• When the sausages are browned remove from pan and add zucchini.
• Cover and cook and fairly high heat for a few minutes.
• Meanwhile cube browned sausage and tomatoes.
• Uncover, add sausage and tomato chunks. 
• Add Almond meal, Romano cheese, basil, and spices.
• Once it's all bubbly goodness, remove from heat add sour cream.

Serve it up.

The cheese, sour cream, almond meal, and juices from the veggies combine to make a creamy sauce.

Mac 'n' Cheese

Here is today's take on Mac 'n' Cheese:

Start with some chard, kale, basil, italian parsley, thyme, ham, aged white cheddar cheese, a zucchini, a bunch of tomatoes, butter, milk, and a box of mac 'n' cheese (in this case white cheddar from Trader Joe's).