I thought I would try this trick for peeling garlic that I have seen demonstrated online a lot lately:
Scroll down to see the results!
The only problem is that the garlic juice and some peels are now stuck inside the jar…
I find it more efficient with no more dirty dishes to just whack the clove with the flat of my kitchen knife- the peels slide right off the cloves, and your garlic is also on it’s way to being chopped up.
We love our baked chicken around here. This is one of the first dishes my mom taught me to make, and hers is still king in my book. We have a way of preparing it so that it tastes like one of our favorite snack- Snicker Snacks (the same ones I shared with our awesome school security guards, “SnickerWhat’s-its and Thank Yous,” on 2/3/15). I should call it Snicker Snacks Chicken:
This is super easy- In a 9″ x 13″ baking dish, place a quartered chicken (or 8 chicken thighs), skin side up, brush with a mix of 2 tablespoons melted butter and 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, and then sprinkle with onion powder, garlic powder and Lawry’s seasoned salt; bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes, until the skin is nice and crispy.
We like this served with any vegetable side and mashed potatoes, usually. I think these are the best staple seasonings- Penzey’s Toasted Onion Powder and California Garlic Powder, and Lawry’s Seasoned Salt. Honestly, these are what I reach for every day.
But…
I switched up the chicken for today’s New Menu Monday, and tried a simple, easy lemon chicken dish:
Lemon Chicken, from Annies-Eats.com
Bake it long enough, do not be afraid, and you will be rewarded with a lovely crisp skin glazed in lemony goodness. I liked this recipe, even though I overcooked it a bit in the end. I think it is because my thighs were of different sizes. That does sound like a personal problem, but I assure you I am referring to the chicken thighs here. Ha.
The Boy liked the usual “snicker snacks chicken” better, The Husband liked it, International Boy liked it well enough, I gave it a Seal of Approval, “I’d Make This Again” Vote. I really liked the fresh lemon flavor… nice and bright. Yum! I highly recommend following the recipe- do not skimp on the fresh, real lemon zest or juice, and use fresh garlic. They really make this dish shine. Great recipe, Annies-Eats.com!
The Husband is sick as a dog, poor sweetie. He’s the complete opposite of me when ill- leave him alone, bring the occasional tea or hot toddy and he is fine. Me? I want sympathetic noises several times an hour, offers to fetch the remote, tissues, phone, iPad, etc… And soup. I want nice, preferably home-made soup.
Navy Bean Soup is on the menu tonight for two reasons: it is The Husband’s favorite (poor sick sweetie!), and I want to do a “New Menu Monday” post. So, instead of our favorite bean soup side, The Most Fantastic Corn Bread On The Face Of The Earth, I found an interesting and good looking garlic bread.
I was late today, digging this recipe out of my Pinterest board “Breads, Muffins, Pastries and Quick Breads.” well after 4:00 this afternoon with errands still to run. On the way home, I ran into the grocery store and picked up a bag of frozen dough for rolls, as suggested by the author. The recipe I’m trying tonight comes from a March 2015 entry from the blog “YourHomeBasedMom.com.” There are tons of great recipes there, go check her out.
The changes I made to this recipe were to use nine, not 14 rolls; Italian seasonings instead of oregano; fresh garlic, not garlic salt; and real parmesan cheese, not “the kind from the green can.” Her recipe suggests using home made dough, frozen ready-made if you are short on time… which I was.
Garlic Parmesan Petal Bread
Microwave butter on a plate then mix in the cheese, garlic, and Italian seasonings. Roll thawed dough balls into ropes, then roll in seasoned butter and place coiled up in your buttered cast iron pan. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top.
This. Was. DELICIOUS! I really think that the fresh garlic really made this recipe. Fast, easy and yummy. I’m already thinking about how the next time I will make a dough with half whole wheat and add even more garlic and parmesan.
One of the family favorites here is bone-in pork chops. Nice, thick chops that always are too big to eat in one meal… The Girl and I have to save the leftovers for breakfast- forget your Wheaties, I tell you leftover grilled anything is truly the Breakfast of Champions! I had to learn how to grill lamb riblets from The Husband’s aunt, as my parents never served them. We will make them occasionally, these beautiful grilled lamb riblets, cut from a small, Frenched rack of lamb… yum!
But never have we grilled the diminutive lamb chops that we have seen in the butcher’s case. So, we made some tonight!
This was a very simple recipe we came up with after looking online for ideas-
Garlic, Rosemary and Balsamic Marinated Lamb Chops
about five servings, two small chops per person
In a zip-top bag or glass baking dish, place the lamb chops and remaining ingredients. Rub the oil, vinegar and seasonings into the chops by hand or by squishing the bag around until the chops are well covered.
Refrigerate the chops in the marinade for two to eight hours.
Grill over medium-high heat for three to four minutes per side, less for rare, more for medium doneness.
We served this with roasted cauliflower, spinach and caprese skewers.
Wow, these were delicious! What a nice change form the usual pork chops or sirloin. Lamb is an ever so slightly gamey, meaty alternative. The meat was so very tender and the bone helped to keep the little chops from drying out on the grill. Did I mention how tender these were?
branching out... on a limb 