Sorry that I have been away so long, but I'm back and hope you will check in on me every week.....

I stumbled on a super ingredient and that's COMPOUND BUTTER...nothing special, extremely easy and so delicious....

I had extra cilantro and we love cilantro...that clean fresh taste, especially during the hot summer it is so refreshing.....I made cilantro lime butter and found out it has many uses....

1pound-1 1/2 pounds of butter cubed and room temperature
1 bunch of cilantro rough chopped, stems and all
juice of 1 lime
dash of sea salt
extra virgin olive oil about 1/4 cup

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth and creamy...you might have to drizzle in a bit more olive oil or maybe add a bit more cilantro or lime depending on the size of the bunch of cilantro and the juice of the lime...the above quantities are just a place to start....you adjust to your taste...

Place in a plastic container with lid or mason jar...this will keep for a month in the refrigerator.

USES FOR THIS BUTTER

1.  I take chicken breasts or tenders and saute' in about 2 TBL of this butter...you can use these for 

Chicken Salad, Chicken Enchiladas, Tostadas, Wrap Sandwiches, Tortilla Soup, White Chili, or just as they are.....I melt pepper jack on top of the whole breasts after they have been sauteed in the butter or sometimes add a couple of TBL of Philadelphia Jalapeno Cream Cheese to make a cream sauce to go over the chicken.

You can also cube the meat and serve as an appetizer with assorted sauces or dips. 

The application is endless...just use that imagination and see where it takes you...


I try to use only organic free range chicken...it's cleaner and so tender and delicious....plus so much better for you without all the antibiotics or hormones....

2.  This butter is also good on vegetables, especially grilled corn, but it's good on rice with the chicken on top as a meal.

I would love to hear about the different dishes you create using this butter....

Asparagus Tart

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed and rolled out to 11X17
1 pound of asparagus washed and trimmed
1 cup grated Gruyere
1 cup grated Parmesan
2 large egg yolks
1/4 cup light cream (I used heavy cream, had it on hand)
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp chopped chives
4 oz crumbled goat cheese  (the original recipe called for 2oz)

1.  Preheat oven to 400.  Roll out the puff pastry and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Prick it all over with a fork and bake it for about 10 minutes, or until lightly brown.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

2.  Blanch the asparagus in a large pot of salted boiling water. ( I put a good squeeze of lemon juice in the water also).  Cook for about 3-4 minutes and remove to an ice bath.  After they have cooled completely about 5 minutes in the ice bath, place on paper towels to dry.

3.  Blend together the remainder of ingredients except for the goat cheese crumbles, in a bowl and then spread this mixture over the cooled pastry crust, leaving about and inch for a border.  Arrange the asparagus on the mixture and I turned every other spear the opposite direction in a side by side line across the cheese mixture.  After doing this I sprinkled the goat cheese crumbles evenly across the top.  Bake for another 20 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese mixture has puffed up and the goat cheese crumbles are slightly toasted.


I must tell you I love this tart and I just searched for asparagus tarts and came across a link to 
thenaptimechef.com and this was her recipe that I just tweaked....she has an awesome sight and I encourage everyone to check it out....lots of great recipes and she also has a cookbook and working on her second so please check out......thenaptimechef.com    and enjoy this recipe for the asparagus tart.  

FRIED EGGPLANT SANDWICH

My friend Rhonda and I love this little restaurant called Zoe's Kitchen.  A favorite is their turkey stacker which is made on sourdough bread toasted in olive oil and rosemary.  I decided that I would try to create my own veggie sandwich using their technique and it has become one of my husband's favorite all time sandwiches, very filling and absolutely mouthwatering. I hope you will try this and that you enjoy it as much as we do.  It's a complete meal between two slices of toasted sourdough and you don't need chips or a side.  I make the filling for more than a few sandwiches and store in the refrigerator for the next day...this is good hot or cold....

1 medium eggplant or two Japanese eggplants, washed and sliced 1" thick salted
1 small container of button mushrooms, sliced
1 small container of baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 large sweet yellow onion sliced thin
1 container of grape tomatoes diced
1 head of romaine shredded after taking out the ribs
olive oil
about 2 tbls of fresh rosemary chopped
slices of sourdough bread
slices of smoked provolone cheese
butter
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
garlic powder



I start by caramelizing my onions in a skillet with a few tablespoons of butter and a sprinkle of kosher salt.
While the onions are caramelizing, I start to saute the mushrooms in a few tablespoons of butter and a sprinkle of kosher salt and garlic powder( I sometimes use leftover red wine or beef broth and reduce this with the mushrooms for added flavor). As these are cooking on two of the burners I get my larger skillet hot while I brush olive oil on both sides of my bread and sprinkle with the fresh rosemary.  After toasting both sides in the skillet or griddle I put a slice of provolone on both of the inside pieces and put on rack in the oven to await the remainder of the goodies.  By this time my onions are caramelized and the mushrooms are cooked and full of flavor, so I put them in storage containers.  I use the same frypan that I had caramelized the onions and just add about an inch of olive oil and let it get hot on medium heat while I blot the salted eggplant rounds.  I then fry the eggplant til it is lightly brown on both sides, just a few minutes and place the rounds of paper towels to remove any excess oil.

Now you are ready to assemble.  I put the eggplant on first, then the onions, mushrooms, diced tomatoes and shredded romaine and finally top it with the other toasted bread and provolone.  This is just so satisfying.  Hope you try and let me know what you think.....Happy Eating!!!
               

JALAPENO CILANTRO BAKED CHICKEN

My family loves the combination of jalapenos and cilantro in just about everything...such clean and fresh tastes, therefore I try to use these flavors as much as possible. Chicken has never been one of my husband's favorite so I try to do different things to see if he likes it, also I try to see how many meals I can get out of one piece of meat.  I recently discovered that I can get three meals out of a roasting hen and it starts with this recipe.


   Ingredients
 
 1 large roasting hen washed and dried
 1 package of Old El Paso regular taco seasoning
 6 large fresh jalapenos washed and split in half lengthwise
 1 large bunch of fresh cilantro
 olive oil to drizzle over chicken
 super strength Reynolds aluminum foil ( I have only been able to find this at Brookshire Brothers) if you can't  find this you can use heavy duty doubled.

 

 I start sprinkling the cavity with 1/2 of the taco seasoning, then I stuff the entire bunch of cilantro into the cavity.  Next I take 6 of my jalapeno halves and put them in the cavity around the cilantro with the seed side facing the meat.  I then gently separate the skin from the chicken breast and rub taco seasoning on the breast and top with the remaining halves of jalapeno remembering seed side towards the meat.  I drizzle olive oil over the chicken sprinkle the remainder of taco seasoning on top and wrap tightly in the aluminum foil.

 I put the chicken on a baking sheet and into a 400 degree preheated oven for 2 hours.  At this time I check the chicken to make sure that the legs are falling off, if so I remove and let cool. 

 After the chicken is cooled I debone it and save all the juices and bones and any bits of chicken in a dutch oven for boiling down later or freeze all of this for a later date...This makes either the best chicken and dumplings using the Bisquick dumpling recipe or a great stock for tortilla soup.  Very flavorful stock.

 We eat one meal off of the baked chicken usually with a rice dish or jalapeno cheese grits.  Next I make a chicken salad and then finally we have the dumplings or soup.

 My husband has loved this recently and it has definitely helped stretch the budget.  Hope you enjoy...let me know if you try this I would love to see if you enjoy it as much as we do.

WHAT TO DO WITH A PORK LOIN

Last week Kroger had pork loins on sale and I bought two, one for the freezer and then I cooked the other.  There is only my husband and me at home so I wanted to do things a little different and see what I could do with the loin to make different dinners all at once.  Our favorite way is to cook it double wrapped in foil after browning and seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, fresh thyme and rosemary.  This way it cooks in it's own juices which makes a great au jus.  The first night we had sliced pork loin with the au jus and oven roasted root veggies.  The next day I sliced about half of the leftover loin in very thin slices that can be frozen for another meal and also used for sandwiches.  The final part I pulled and soaked overnight with a can of Old El Paso green enchilada sauce.  With the pulled pork I made the BEST enchiladas ever...the meat was so tender.  I filled a corn tortilla with the pulled pork, wrapped it well and placed it seam side down in a baking dish, after filling the baking dish I sprinkled 4 oz of grated Monterrey Jack cheese over the enchiladas and then poured a can of Hatch's Green Enchilada Sauce over the top, covered and placed in 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes, then topping with another 4 oz of grated Monterrey Jack.  These dinners were so simple and delicious.  I still had leftover pulled pork that I froze and will use for soft tacos at another time.  It was well worth the $8.00 I spent on that loin.  I apologize for not taking any pictures....we were hungry and I forgot.  I'll try to do a better job next time....With our economy not being stable and prices continually increasing, I am striving to find inexpensive ways to make the most of my dollars and still maintain eating a good nourshing delicious meal.  Also if I can cook all in one day for the week, that's even better...so convienent to use the microwave instead of dragging everything out to heat up...less dishes to wash also...so an energy saver and time saver.....hope you have a great week and hopefully you will try these recipes and enjoy them as much as we do.  Also all comments are welcomed and any additional ideas are also welcomed.

ITALIAN CHEESE GRITS

Just as I added the jalapenos and cheese to the grits, I decided to add some Italian seasonings so it could be served with Italian entrees.  I prefer the jalapeno cheese grits, but these were very good with the pork also.  I can see them being served with Osso Bucco or a cutlet in a tomato gravy.  Lots of ideas have been flooding my brain lately and hopefully I will get to share them after I experiment.

ITALIAN CHEESE GRITS

2 1/2 cups of water
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup grits
1 tsp salt
1 Tbl Italian seasonings
4 Tbl butter
1 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Bring, water, cream, salt, butter and Italian seasonings to a boil.  Slowly stir in grits and bring to boil again.  Reduce heat to medium low and cover.  Cook about 5 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and stir in the cheese.  Cover and let sit a few minutes.

Once again you can serve immediately, or pour it into a buttered 13 x 9 pan and let it get cold.  Cut the squares and brown in a hot skillet with a minimum of oil.  I use olive oil.  These are perfect for appetizers.  You can top them with more freshly grated parmesan, a slice of tomato and parmesan and place under the broiler to melt the cheese, yummy!!!  Creme frache or any type of brushetta topping would be good too.
Use your imagination and experiment with some different toppings...it will all work, and then you can choose which you like the best.

JALAPENO CHEESE GRITS

My husband never liked grits until I added jalapenos and cheese to them, and now he LOVES them.  The following recipe is all it took to change his mind.

JALAPENO CHEESE GRITS

2 1/2 cups of water
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup quick grits
1 tsp salt
4 fresh jalapenos, seeded and finely diced
4 Tbl butter
1 cup of grated extra sharp cheddar

Bring, water, cream, salt, butter, and jalapenos to a boil.  Slowly stir in grits and bring to a boil again.  Reduce heat to medium low and cover.  Cook about 5 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and stir in the cheese.  Cover and let sit a few minutes.

I like to serve this hot with a garlic herb roasted pork loin.  However, it is a great side dish with any meat entree.You can serve it hot this way or instead of letting it sit a few minutes, pour into a buttered 13 x 9 pan and let it get cold.  Cut into squares and brown in hot skillet with minimum oil.  I use olive oil...quite tasty plain, or with a dollop of sourcream, more grated cheese or even fresh salsa.