Summer Cooking #1

I know I know, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!? Well, I've been taking care of my grandmother for the most part lately and also working about 100+ odd hours a week for the past um… 2 or so years, SO I AM BACK!

Quick-ish up dates on random things…. I have 2 dogs now Yuki (2 year old Chiba Inu) and Max (10 year old Corgi Beagle mix). The herb garden I started growing the year before last, has turned into a gigantic jungle of a hellion garden! The chives, rosemary and lavender are up to my hips! ITS AMAZING!

SOOOOOOO ON TO SOME COOKING NEEDS!

DRINKS!

Raspberry Tea (Adult Style) 

4 Cups of Chambord Dark Raspberry Liqueur
1 Pitcher of FRESHLY BREWED Iced Tea (Black tea is fine)
1 Cup of Sugar
1 Cup of Freshly washed Raspberries

Mix and serve with some ice and lime or lemon (personally, I pick the lime) slices in and drink up!

Chambord and Coke:
Ok first of all, if you know me, you know I rarely ever drink soda. HOWEVER In a cocktail, I sometimes will.

Simple:
2oz         Chambord Raspberry Liqueur
2-3oz      Coca-Cola (I think pepsi makes it too sweet) or You can use Sprite either or really.

APPETIZER!

So to go along with the Adult Raspberry Tea: Raspberry and Apricot Glazed Chicken Skewers 

This is perfect to grill or just fire up in an oven, especially on hot summer days when you really do not feel like cooking.

½         Cup Fresh Raspberries
½         Cup Dried Apricots (Soaked over night so they plump up, not required, then minced)
2-3       Boneless skinless chicken thighs (They hold up better, but you can use breasts as well)
1 Tsp   Salt
½ Tsp  Black Pepper
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Tsp Chives
½ Tsp Rosemary
¼ Cup Finely diced White Onion
4 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

First off cut up the chicken into nice sized 1-1½" chunks. And rub them all over with salt and pepper, lemon juice and herbs and toss with the raspberries (its better if some of them break!) and dried/ rehydrated apricots. Coat them evenly with the Extra Virgin Olive oil for at least 2 hours.

When you are ready to cook them, skewer those babies up and fire up the grill~! OR line a baking pan and cook them up in the oven/ broiler. 20 mins at 350ºF should do the job well. Let them rest about 5 minutes covered with aluminum foil then serve. (They are delicious hot or cold, honestly, I tend to just eat the leftovers from the fridge…. hahaha)

MAIN ENTREE!

This started off as a meditation…. yeah…. right… THIS actually started off as a scramble of me trying to get some kind of light (and lightning fast) dinner out because of some un expected guests… now, if your herb garden or stock of herbs is like mine…. (MASSIVE) here is a really quick way to use some of it up…. especially if your herb garden is spreading like wild fire. 

Herb Infused Curry Chicken with Pineapple Demi-Glaze : you will need

1-2 1' Long Sprig(s) of Tarragon

1    1' Long Sprig of Rosemary

4    1' Long Sprigs of flowering Lavender

1 Cup of Parsley (Flat leaf, chopped or not) 

1 Tsp chopped Parsley (Flat or curly, up to you) 

3 Cups of Pineapple (cubed) 

½ Cup of dried Cranberries

½ Cup of dried apricots

1 Tsp of Curry 

½ Cup Pineapple Juice

1 Tsp Salt and Pepper

½ Cup of Olive oil or Canola Oil

1 Cup of white wine or rum, (go with pineapple rum) 

8 BONE IN Chicken Thighs (Again you an use breasts) 

Before any of you start complaining, you will be roasting this, if you roast it well and correctly, those bones will slide out so fast you will be looking for it as your dogs fight over it. So don't worry, the bone is for flavor and also, to give you some body to hold on to while roasting.

ANYWAY, Rub the chicken with salt, pepper, curry powder and soak in the pineapple juice with the olive oil for about 1 hour. The pineapple juice will penetrate and tenderize the chicken and infuse the chicken with all of the other flavors. When you are ready to cook, in a large and deep roasting pan lay down your  bed of herbs. and then lay the chicken on op of them. ADD IN THE REST OF THE MARINADE! and also a cup of pineapple rum. If you are feeling adventurous add in a ½ a cup of Chambord to that pineapple rum. Roast away (basting at least twice throughout the cooking process to make sure that a demi-glaze is set on the skin of the chicken) 40 minutes at 325ºF will make this an excellent meal.  

This is great with a nice summer salad or just some heirloom tomatoes coated in balsamic vinaigrette and olive oil with slices of mozzarella cheese. 

Either way, I'm sure you will enjoy this delicious dinner… especially with this summer heat going on (at least… its here in Virginia.) 

More summer recipes to come. And back to once a week posts! EVEN IF IT KILLS ME!