Citrus-Tarragon Chicken (for kabobs)

Ingredients:
1. 1 orange, zested, then juiced, remainder discarded
2. 1 lemon, zested, then juiced, remainder discarded
3. 1 lime, zested, then juiced, remainder discarded
4. 4 cloves garlic, minced
5. 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon leaves
6. 1/4 cup soy sauce
7. 1/4 cup canola oil (or olive oil … I normally use olive oil)
8. 1/2 teaspoon salt
9. 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
10. 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes

Directions:
Add all the ingredients to a large (gallon sized) zip lock bag. Toss/massage chicken pieces into marinade and refrigerate for 2 hours to 24 hours (depending on the level of flavor you desire).  Either put chicken on skewers to barbeque or put in a sauté pan to sauté.

*My family prefers to leave the chicken to marinate for 24 hours, as the flavors intensify.

*Also this makes a ton of marinade, so you could easily do up to 2 pounds of chicken for this recipe and have plenty enough marinade for all the chicken.

*This recipe was taken from foodnetwork.com and is from Bob Blumer.

baked balsamic chicken

i made this last night an it was way yummy! i pretty much love anything with lots of vinegar: pickles, mustard, etc. so it hit the spot with me. i ate it too fast and didn't get a picture of it. oops sorry.

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 C balsamic vinegar

1/4 C EVOO

1 tsp pepper

1 1/2 tsp garlic salt

marinade for 4 or more hours

bake in oven for 40ish minutes at 375. till juices run clear and no pink.

for the side

1/2 pkg spaghetti noodles cooked

2 cloves minced garlic

1/4 C butter

add butter and garlic to saucepan. melt it up then add the cooked noodles. mix till butter is all melted in. if you have fresh parmesan i bet that would be yummy on top too.

then finish it off with some broccoli or asparagus. you will feel like you are eating at macaroni grill. except without the $50 price tag.

ode to leftovers

What I love about crock pot cooking is that we usually have plenty of leftovers. Remember that pork tenderloin I cooked in the crock pot? We enjoyed leftovers the following day. Even after a second dinner, we had plenty of pork left, so I decided to change it up a bit. I shredded the pork and marinated it in some hulihuli sauce. Then I baked it in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. While that was in the over, I got some rice and broccoli going in the rice cooker. Easy, easy and oh so tasty! It reminded me of life in Hawaii.

grilled portobella mushrooms

I made some marinated and cheese filled portobella mushrooms. Unfortunately, I used too much cheese, but I somewhat knew this when I was making it. However, they turned out pretty good, and it is a good summer grilling treat!

Marinade:
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2-3 tbsp onion, finely chopped
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp thyme
freshly ground pepper
freshly ground sea salt
1/4 c. olive oil

I used a plastic zipper bag and mixed it up. Then I placed my mushrooms in the bag and turned the bag to coat the mushrooms. I then let it sit for about an hour, turning it about 4 times. I probably had enough marinade for about 4 mushrooms, but I was just testing it.

I then grilled the mushrooms on our little propane camping grill. Since I was filling the underside with cheese, I grilled that side first. In order to keep the onion and garlic in the mushroom's cap, I used some aluminum foil to contain it. When I flipped them over I put the cheese into them.

One of them I filled with some type of romano cheese (I'm not sure of the type exactly because I got if from a friend before he moved). The other cheese uses the same mold as Roquefort, but instead of being made of sheep's milk, it is made from cow's milk. Two different cheeses, but both very tasty.

The mushroom with the blue cheese I made into a grilled portobella burger and the other I ate as-is. If I were to do this again, I would limit the amount of cheese I put on it, I was just trying to get rid of the cheese since it was getting a bit old.

Bon appetit,

Chef Jeff
(^8=3