As you may have noticed, I’ve been doing a lot of grilling lately. It gets so hot in my kitchen, and if I turn on the ceiling fan, it affects the gas burners on my stove, making things cook slower. Turning the oven on is just not appealing in this weather, so the grill is my pal. My latest experiment was to see if I could cook gnocchi on the grill. Guess what? It worked! It has this great smoky flavor and a terrific crunchiness. Everyone loved it!

1 lb bag of gnocchi, defrosted

2 green onions, ends cut off

olive oil

Parmesan cheese

Turn the grill onto high. Place a disposable metal pan (like a pie pan) on half and fill with 2 cups water. Let that get hot. Spray a grill tray or grill basket with cooking spray. Toss the gnocchi with olive oil (a couple tablespoons) and place it on the tray in on layer. Place that on the other half of the grill. Rub the green onions with olive oil and lay on the grill. Turn the gnocchi side down to medium high. Close the grill. Check it about every 4-5 minutes, turning the gnocchi over and turning the onions. It takes about 10-12 minutes total, until some of the gnocchi is browned and the green onions are slightly charred. Place the gnocchi in a bowl. Cut up the green onions into small pieces. Drizzle olive oil over the gnocchi, add onions, season with salt and pepper and add about 1/2 cup (or more, to your taste) grated Parmesan cheese. Toss and serve.

As you may have noticed, I’ve been doing a lot of grilling lately. It gets so hot in my kitchen, and if I turn on the ceiling fan, it affects the gas burners on my stove, making things cook slower. Turning the oven on is just not appealing in this weather, so the grill is … Read more →

I whipped up this quick, simple, summer veggie dish and it was delicious.

1/4 cup chopped sweet onion

2 ears of corn, kernels cut off

2 cups arugula

pinch dry mustard

salt and pepper

1/2 garlic clove, chopped

2 tbsp chicken stock

1/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese

Cook the onion in a little olive oil until translucent. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until the arugula is wilted and the cheese melted. I wasn’t kidding! It is simple!

I whipped up this quick, simple, summer veggie dish and it was delicious. 1/4 cup chopped sweet onion 2 ears of corn, kernels cut off 2 cups arugula pinch dry mustard salt and pepper 1/2 garlic clove, chopped 2 tbsp chicken stock 1/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese Cook the onion in a little olive oil … Read more →

Tiny Skillet was our selection person this week and she chose granitas.  I made the strawberry one. I did not add vodka and I did not make the syrup with the balsamic to pour over it because that sounded just awful to me! I thought this was going to be easy to make, but I have to admit that the time scraping with a fork was truly a pain in the butt! The granita was tasty though- kind of like shave ice or a popsicle or sorbet. Something I have never had before. Definitely refreshing a light. This was fun to try.

Tiny Skillet was our selection person this week and she chose granitas.  I made the strawberry one. I did not add vodka and I did not make the syrup with the balsamic to pour over it because that sounded just awful to me! I thought this was going to be easy to make, but I … Read more →

I was unmotivated to cook an actual dinner involving pots and pans, so I made everything on the grill. I marinated 6 ounces of Canadian bacon in 6 oz pineapple juice and 1 tbsp soy sauce for an hour. I put those on the grill and also grilled one zucchini (cut lengthwise into 4 pieces and rubbed with oil) and a bunch of asparagus that I rubbed with oil. The bacon cooked within 2 minutes – just a minute a side on a hot grill and it was ready. The zucchini and asparagus took about 10 minutes over a medium heat.

So easy and I didn’t have to wash a thing except our plates. I served this with the fingerling potatoes from my previous post.

I was unmotivated to cook an actual dinner involving pots and pans, so I made everything on the grill. I marinated 6 ounces of Canadian bacon in 6 oz pineapple juice and 1 tbsp soy sauce for an hour. I put those on the grill and also grilled one zucchini (cut lengthwise into 4 pieces … Read more →

I haven’t posted a major disaster in a long time, so I was definitely due. I found this recipe for Iowa Brownies in the Penzey’s spice catalog. They sounded good – made with sour cream — something really different. Teen Martha (who is interning part-time at a lab at the med school this summer but has whole days with nothing to do other than download music for me and watch My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding) decided to give it a whirl since I am in the middle of madness trying to write a book in a month (details to come).  Total disaster. The recipe says to bake in a 9×13 jellyroll pan. It just barely fit and then it overflowed all over the oven. In mid-bake we (and by we I mean Mr. MarthaAndMe who gets called in for the really big disasters) transferred to a 9 inch square baking pan. Huge mess. It’s all over my oven which smells like burning cake whenever I turn it on now.

The frosting didn’t work either. It was dry and clumpy and she had to add more liquid. The end result was a brownie that tasted like cake (did not have brownie texture at all) and frosting no one liked. Total fail. I don’t think this recipe was tested by Penzey’s.

I haven’t posted a major disaster in a long time, so I was definitely due. I found this recipe for Iowa Brownies in the Penzey’s spice catalog. They sounded good – made with sour cream — something really different. Teen Martha (who is interning part-time at a lab at the med school this summer but … Read more →

I had a lovely bag of multicolored fingerling potatoes and needed a way to cook them. I also had some vinaigrette leftover. Why not use them together? This one was a big winner in my house, with people fighting over the cheese!

1 lb fingerling potatoes, pricked with a fork

Make this vinaigrette:
4 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp cider vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp Italian herb mix

1/8 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper

1/4 tsp Worchestershire

Shake this up in a jar and let it sit for about 10 minutes so the herbs soften.

Place the potatoes on the parchment. Pour half the vinaigrette over them (save the rest for a salad the next night). Fold the parchment and bake at 400 for 1 hour. About halfway through, take it out of the oven, grab the bag with potholders and give it a shake to distribute the oil. Put it back in for the rest of the hour. After one hour, remove from the oven, open the parchment and shave several tablespoons of Parmesan cheese over it (don’t grate it, use a cheese slicer to shave it). Leave the packet open and return to the oven until the cheese melts.

OMG. It was soooo good.

I had a lovely bag of multicolored fingerling potatoes and needed a way to cook them. I also had some vinaigrette leftover. Why not use them together? This one was a big winner in my house, with people fighting over the cheese! 1 lb fingerling potatoes, pricked with a fork Make this vinaigrette: 4 tbsp … Read more →

My family loves Greek food so I came up with this to whet their appetites! It’s creamy and packed with veggies. A terrific change from traditional lasagna.

9 lasagna noodles, cooked until very al dente

1 cooked chicken breast, chopped

1 cup broccoli, roughly chopped

1/2zucchini sliced then quartered

1 cup frozen artichoke hearts, roughly chopped and mostly defrosted

6 baby bella  mushrooms, sliced

1  four oz package feta cheese

2 cups spaghetti sauce

For the white sauce:

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp flour

1 cup milk

1/2 package light cream cheese

1 tbsp parmesan cheese

1 tsp Greek seasoning

salt and pepper

Cook the garlic in the oil about 30 seconds, then whisk in the flour, cook another 30 seconds, then whisk in the milk. Add the cream cheese and parmesan cheese. Stir until all the cheese melts and sauce is thick. Add the seasoning and the salt and pepper.

Cover the bottom of a 6 by 12 pan with a few tablespoons of red sauce. Lay 3 noodles down. Top the noodles with 1/3 of the white sauce. Top with 1/2 chicken, and half the veggies and 1/3 of the feta and 1/3 red sauce. Repeat. Top with remaining 3 noodles. On the top place the remaining red sauce, white sauce and feta. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Take the foil off and let it cook another 5-10 minutes until slightly browned on top.

My family loves Greek food so I came up with this to whet their appetites! It’s creamy and packed with veggies. A terrific change from traditional lasagna. 9 lasagna noodles, cooked until very al dente 1 cooked chicken breast, chopped 1 cup broccoli, roughly chopped 1/2zucchini sliced then quartered 1 cup frozen artichoke hearts, roughly … Read more →

Tiny Skillet has chosen granitas. She will be making ginger plum, but feel free to choose your own here.  I’ve never made a granita so this should be fun.

Tiny Skillet has chosen granitas. She will be making ginger plum, but feel free to choose your own here.  I’ve never made a granita so this should be fun.

Perfecting Pru chose this. Loved this! I halved the recipe and mine baked in far less the time indicated, but it was very good. And that’s saying a lot because I like my mom’s shortcake, which is more like a shortbread. I served this with some whipped cream. Very yummy! The shortcake was crunchy on top and soft in the middle. Delicious! Local strawberries are coming this week. I may have to make this again!

Perfecting Pru chose this. Loved this! I halved the recipe and mine baked in far less the time indicated, but it was very good. And that’s saying a lot because I like my mom’s shortcake, which is more like a shortbread. I served this with some whipped cream. Very yummy! The shortcake was crunchy on … Read more →

I recently found a source for pea shoots and now I’m finding lots of ways to use them. They are fantastic just on sandwiches. I wanted to find a way to have them for dinner though, so I can up with this fantastic (and easy!) chicken salad

1 poached chicken breast, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 small cucumber, peeled and sliced thin

1 small shallot, chopped

1 tbsp chopped parsley

10 thin slices of zucchini, chopped

1 tsp stone ground mustard

3 tbsp light mayo

salt and pepper

2 tsp good olive oil

1/2 tsp white vinegar

2 cups pea shoots

Mix the chicken and vegetables in a bowl. Add everything else except pea shoots and stir. Refrigerate. Cut the pea shoots into quarters, and toss. Place pea shoots on plate and top with 1/3 of the salad. (Serves 3)

I recently found a source for pea shoots and now I’m finding lots of ways to use them. They are fantastic just on sandwiches. I wanted to find a way to have them for dinner though, so I can up with this fantastic (and easy!) chicken salad 1 poached chicken breast, cut into 1/2 inch … Read more →