Grilled Chicken Pitas

This would be great with a salad or with some french fries. I used whole wheat pitas for this recipe. To mix it up, try making it without the salsa and avocado and use Tzatziki sauce to give it a greek flare. Additionally, you could swap out the chicken for pork, turkey or even shrimp.

boneless skinless chicken breast
salt for seasoning
crushed red pepper for seasoning
1 tsp minced ginger
ground cumin for seasoning
ground coriander for seasoning
2 tbsp lemon juice
olive oil
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1 tomato, diced
1/4 cup red onion, diced
pita bread
1/2 avocado diced
salsa for garnish

Season chicken with crushed red pepper, ginger, salt, cumin, coriander and lemon juice. Finish by drizzling the chicken with olive oil. Toss to coat and let rest.

Heat grill.

Once grill is heated to about 350 degrees. Grill chicken until done.

About halfway through cooking chicken, wrap pita bread in foil and place on the grill to heat up.

Once chicken is done, wrap and foil and let rest for about 5 minutes. Then dice the grilled chicken.

Fill pita bread with grilled chicken and top with cucumber, tomato, red onion and avocado. Garnish with salsa. Serve and ENJOY!!!!!

Wine pairing.......Chardonnay or Pinot Noir.

Sunday Supper - Sausage and Tomato Spaghetti

I used whole wheat spaghetti noodles for this recipe, but I am sure you could use just about any type of noodle and it would be great. Serve it with some nice bread, mixed greens and great bottle of wine and I am sure you could use this to serve to company.

6 hot italian sausage links
spaghetti noodles
1 - 28 oz can diced tomatoes
olive oil
crushed red pepper for seasoning
5 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper for seasoning
1/4 cup basil, chopped
shredded parmesan for garnish

Begin bringing water to a boil for pasta.

In a sauté pan drizzle with olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook just until cooked through, turning to brown all sides. Remove sausage and slice into thin slices. Place the sliced sausage back into the sauté pan and crisp up until just about browned all over.

Add garlic and season with crushed red pepper, salt and pepper. Sauté for a couple of minutes, be careful not to burn the garlic.

Add tomatoes and season with additional crushed red pepper, salt and pepper. Reduce to a simmer and cover and stir occasionally.

Cook pasta according to package directions.

In a large bowl combine drained pasta and sauce with sausage. Mix well tossing everything together. Add basil and toss again.

Top pasta with shredded parmesan cheese, serve and ENJOY!!!

Wine pairing.......Barbera or Chianti.

What Do You Do With Leftover Prime Rib?

Received an email Aunt Carolyn wanting to know if I had any suggestions for what she could make with  leftover prime rib bones.  She was specifically looking for a soup recipe.  I think I have just what she may want.  Hopefully she gives it a try and it is a success.

Aunt Carolyn....try it with a nice bottle of Pinot Noir.  That would be a great pairing.

If anyone has any other ideas....please share them!! 

Beef, Barley and Mushroom Soup

¾ oz dried shiitake mushrooms
Prime rib bone and leftovers
3 tsp olive oil
1 ½ cup diced onion
1 ½ cup diced carrots
1 cup chopped celery
4 garlic cloves, minced
7 cups beef broth/stock
1 – 14.5 oz diced tomatoes
½ cup pearl barley
Salt and pepper for seasoning
½ cup green beans, trimmed and cut into ½ inch pieces

Place mushrooms in a bowl. Pour hot water over to cover the mushrooms. Let stand for about 30 minutes. Drain, cut stems off (discard stems) and slice. Put sliced mushrooms in a slow cooker.

Season beef with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a nonstick sauté pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add beef, cook for about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to slow cooker.

Add remaining olive oil to sauté pan. Add onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Sauté for about 5 minutes. Transfer this mixture to the slow cooker.

Stir in beef broth/stock, tomatoes, barley and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on high for about 4 ½ hours.

Remove bone and any fat pieces. Shred any large beef pieces. Add green beans. Taste and season as necessary at this point. Cover and cook for an additional 20 minutes.

Scott's Famous Potato Salad

5 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes (do not overcook, just cooked so a fork goes in, but not too soft. Drain, cool and then place in the refrigerator, before you peel. Once completely cooled, peel and dice into small pieces).

4 to 5 sticks celery, finely chopped.

8 to 10 strips of bacon, fried crispy and then finely chopped (Scott's tip, use the honey baked bacon from Costco).

1/2 purple and 1/2 sweet onion, finely chopped.

6 hard boiled eggs. Dice 4 of them and mix in with the potatoes. The other 2 are sliced and put of the top for garnish.

3/4 cup mayonnaise.

Layer together potatoes, celery, bacon, onions, and eggs with mayo and season with salt, pepper and lawrys season salt. Mix all together.

Do not feel like you are putting too much mayonnaise, the potatoes soak most of it up.

Layer sliced eggs on the top and sprinkle with paprika for garnish.

(Scott's tip - he puts the celery, egg, onion and bacon into separate small bowls, then he layers the cut potatoes with these items and repeats, for easy mixing).

Serve and ENJOY!!!!

Cinco de Mayo

What are your favorite Mexican recipes.....?????  Please share them.

We celebrated Cinco de Mayo early this year. Weekends are always better time for celebrations, beats a work day anytime. Aunt Marion and Michael came down for a visit this past weekend, so it was the perfect time to break out the delicious Mexican food. Menu consisted of:

Pacifica Beer
Margaritas (Marion made these with what I had on hand, they were quite good)
Assorted wine (you knew we could not leave the vino out)

Tortilla Chips with Assorted Salsas
Tuna Tartare....Mexican Style (sushi grade tuna, jalapeno, tomato, green onion, cilantro and avocado)

Mixed Greens with Cotija Cheese, Tomatoes and Santa Fe Dressing
Surf and Turf Lobster Tacos (grilled lobster and filet mignon with small flour tortillas)
Fajita Roasted Potatoes (gold baby potatoes, red bell pepper, red onion and pablano Chili)

Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies (Brownie mix with cinnamon and paprika)

Stay tuned....coming later this month, a Western Menu to celebrate a trip to watch Professional Bull Riding....Round up your wranglers.

2007 Denner Grenache

Raspberry and blackberry aromas.  Slight bit of mineral on the nose.  Ripe berry flavors, with a nice soft spice and soft tannins.  Long finish.

2007 Alain Jaume Lirac Clos des Sixte

Dark and ripe, with plum and currant fruit flavors.  Slight chalky mineral tone with tobacco and floral notes.  A bit of spice with a nice velvety finish.