Tasty Tuesday

It was a beautiful day today so I wanted to cook something outside on the grill. I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com and it's very easy. So easy in fact that even after putting the food on the grill and then the grill running out of propane I was able to schlep it back inside and cook it all in a grill pan. Slainte!

Grilled Peanut Chicken
Ingredients
2 tbsp reduced fat peanut butter
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 dash ground cayenne pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Directions
1. Spray grill with Pam or light oil. Preheat grill on high heat.
2. In a bowl, mix together the peanut butter, lime juice, soy sauce, garlic, and cayenne pepper. Note: I added about 1 tsp of hot water to the mixture to soften the peanut butter a bit and make it mix together a little easier.
3. Place chicken on grill and brush with 1/2 the sauce. Grill 6 to 8 minutes. Turn chicken, and brush with remaining sauce. Continue grilling 6 to 8 minutes, until chicken juices run clear. Remove from grill using a spatula to keep crispy bits on the chicken rather than on the grill.

I served with grilled zucchini and rice. It was so easy and very tasty. Next time I will double the peanut butter mixture to serve with the rice or for dipping sauce.

Baby Announcement!

My friend Tami had a baby girl about 2 months ago and I got to make her birth announcements. I think they turned out pretty cute!

Tasty Tuesday

This week's recipe I also make every year for St. Patrick's Day. I spent the summer of 2000 in Ireland and ate this incredible brown bread just about every day for breakfast. It is dense and very hearty. It's also very easy as there is no yeast and nothing has to rise. Slainte!

Irish Brown Bread

Ingredients

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 cup oats (I use Quaker Oats)
1.5 tsp baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
2 Tbsp molasses



Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. I use my stand mixer and use that bowl for my dry ingredients.

2. In a smaller bowl, combine the buttermilk and molasses. 3. Gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry. I do this using the dough hook. The dough holds onto the dough hook when it is thoroughly mixed.

4. Lightly knead the dough 3 or 4 times on a floured surface. It can be sticky so add more flour if needed. Divide the dough into two rounds and score an X in the top about 1 inch deep using a knife. Place the rounds on a baking sheet and bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 and bake another 25-30 minutes.

5. Remove from heat and let cook on rack. Slice into 1/2 inch pieces. The bread is good warmed or toasted.

I made this recipe quite a bit before I had a stand mixer. It's tougher to make because it is hard to stir bread dough, but it can be done. If you have a stand mixer, use it because it is so simple - no heavy mixing needed!

Ick!

Yesterday after work I was on my way home and pulled up alongside this old jeep-type thing at a stop light. I didn't really think anything about it until the palm tree sticker caught my eye. It wasn't just any ol' palm tree sticker though.

Please excuse the extremely dirty windshield of my car and the mutant bug that decided to dive bomb the window. That's beside the point. What is someone in 2009 driving around with a swastika on their car? Is that even allowed? That just disgusts me. The driver's window was open and it took every ounce of my being not to ask him what it meant, but I figured someone ballsy enough to drive around with a swastika on their car would also be ballsy enough to pull out a gun and shoot me, so I decided against inquiring. But really, who does that?

Tasty Tuesday

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It just so happens that this week's Tasty Tuesday is a recipe that I make every year for St. Patrick's Day. Actually, I made it this weekend for my St. Patty's Day party on Saturday, but that's just because I'm too busy to make it during the work week. It sounds a little strange, but it is fantastic!!!

Steak and Guinness Pie

Ingredients

1 pie pastry for double 10-12 in. pie
1 2-lb Round steak
1 TBSP Flour
1 TBSP Brown sugar
1 TBSP Raisins
1 small-med onion
1 bottle Guinness stout
8 Slices bacon
3 TBSP shortening
Directions

1. Cut the steak into bite sized cubes, roll in seasoned flour, and brown in the shortening with the bacon, chopped small.

2. Place the meat in a casserole, peel and chop the onions, and fry until golden before adding them to the meat. Add the raisins and brown sugar, pour in the Guinness, cover tightly and cook in a very moderate oven (325-350F) for 2 1/2 hours.

3. Stir occasionally, and add a little more Guinness or water if the rich brown gravy gets too thick. Meanwhile, line a deep pie dish with half the pie crust: bake it:

4. Add the Guinness/beef mixture from the casserole, cover with the top layer of pie crust, and bake until finished, probably about 10 more minutes.

Jason was my brilliant sous chef as he made the pastry look beautiful! Really, this dish is so tasty it's not even funny. After attending my party a few years back my friend Amy asked for my recipe and later that year made it for a family get together. The family had an "appetizer contest" and she made Guinness Pie for it. She won the contest with my recipe! It's a prize winning pie and worth a try.
Another delicious St. Patrick's Day recipe next week!

Getting Ready for St. Patrick's Day

This weekend I am having my almost annual St. Patrick's Day party. I'm not much of a holiday decorator, with the exception of Christmas, but over the years I have acquired many St. Patty's Day gifts that I put out for a festive party. I will share more with you later, but when I pulled out the box of decorations the other day, this one made me laugh out loud (just like it does every time).

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Wait for it...I promise it's worth it!

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That's right, it's a leprechaun toilet seat cover and rug. Once a year this leprechaun comes out of the garage and has a seat (ha, ha, get it?) in my guest bathroom. I even laugh when I get it set up. He is cute, but does sometimes frighten the guests who aren't expecting him to be there. This guy was a gift from the one and only Jason from The Jason Show. Every year he reminds me to put it out, but seriously how could I possibly forget the toilet seat leprechaun!

A Little Painting Fun

A couple of weeks ago I bought a new travel watercolor set. I had used most of the paints in my last one and wanted to be at full capacity for my return to Italy at the end of the month. This weekend I got to play with it a little bit.

Here it is all tiny and compact. It's a Winsor & Newton travel set which makes middle of the road water colors, not too pricey but still pretty decent.

The top of the box comes off and can be used for a water dish. Then the box can be opened. To start, there is a small water bottle/palette, a small sponge, some additional small fold-out palettes, and a small paintbrush (which isn't that great, but will do in a pinch).

The palettes fold out and there are 12 pan watercolors.

And here's what it should really look like after some use.

I played around with the colors since I accidentally threw away the box that told me what colors are inside.

I pulled up some pictures of my previous trip to Italy and did some sketches and color washes to get used to the paints. I am getting more and more excited about this trip. Since we are traveling around by car I am hoping to have time to just sit with a coffee or a glass of wine and just sketch the incredibleness around me.

The island of Burano in Venice. I think this is my most favorite place in Italy. I can't wait to return.

A small bridge in Venice.