Tag Archives: lemon

Vegetarian Grill

1 Jun

I am in no way, shape or form a vegetarian, nor do I think I could ever be one. My love for food is too far and wide to make room for any limitations. I do, however, like to eliminate the meat portion of a dish sometimes and replace it with something that holds up just as well. Portobello mushrooms are a great alternative to meat in that they have a similar taste and texture. This entire meal was either completely cooked on the grill or finished on the grill. Grilling is a great method to achieve the same flavors without actually having to eat meat.

For the mushrooms:

4 portobello caps
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh or dried oregano
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt
Freshly cracked black pepper

For the artichokes:

6 baby artichokesBaby Artichokes
2 lemons, juiced
Salt
1 large bowl filled with water

For the potatoes:

3 potatoes, I used russets
Salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
Olive oil

Dipping sauce:

1 individual sized Greek yogurt
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 scallion, chopped
Fresh dill
Olive oil, splash

Cleaned Artichoke

Start by preparing the artichokes because these take the longest. First, set aside a bowl filled with water and squeeze the juice of 1-2 lemons into the water. Toss the entire squeezed lemon into the water as well. As you clean each artichoke, place it into the lemon-water. This will prevent the artichokes from oxidizing. If you miss this step, the artichokes will turn brown right before your eyes. Peel the outer leaves from the artichoke until you reach the more tender inner leaves. Using kitchen shears or scissors, cut the pointy tips off of each leaf. Turn the artichoke on its side and using a sharp knife, cut the top off to get rid of the remaining tips. Cut the artichoke in half and remove the choke. This is the furry mess that is in the center. Do not forget to remove this. They call it a “choke” for a reason. It is said that the chokes do not have to be removed from baby artichokes because they have not had the chance to fully develop. I think it is better to remove it. It is altogether more appealing without it. At this point, remove the stem and all dark green parts that are exposed. Your cleaned artichoke should look like this:

Cleaned Artichoke

Leave the artichokes to soak in the lemon-water while you prepare the other components of the meal.

Artichokes in lemon-water

Pour all the ingredients into a large freezer bag to begin marinating the mushrooms. Make sure the mushrooms are coated well and then place the bag into the refrigerator.

Clean the potatoes under cold water and dry them with a paper towel. Lightly scrub the skins to ensure they are fully clean. Cut each potato in half lengthwise and then in half again, making wedges. Place the potato wedges into a large pot and cover with cold water. When the water comes up to a boil, season with salt. Boil the potatoes until they are just done. You do not want the potatoes to be too soft because you need to transfer them onto the grill. While the potatoes are still hot, brush each one with olive oil and then season them with salt and pepper. Set aside.

At the same time that you are boiling the potatoes, bring another pot of water to a boil. Add the artichokes and then season the water with salt. Allow the artichokes to boil for about 10 minutes.  Drain the artichokes. Coat each artichoke with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, combine the Greek yogurt, garlic and scallions. Add the juice and zest of one lemon. Drizzle in enough olive oil to smooth the dip and thin it out. Finish by mixing in some salt, pepper and fresh dill, to taste. I originally intended for this dip to be used on the potatoes and to dip the artichoke leaves into, but it also tastes great on the mushrooms.

Place the potatoes and artichokes on the grill. At this time, remove the portobellos from the refrigerator. Place the mushrooms on the grill. After a few minutes, turn all the vegetables to continue grilling on the other side. The mushrooms only take 1-2 minutes on each side. Since the potatoes and artichokes are already cooked through, you basically just want to achieve some nice charring and grill marks. Remove everything from the grill and serve immediately.

Eat your vegetables!

Enjoy, Xristina Marie

T R P

© 2011 Xristina Miros

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Hello, summer! So nice to see you.

28 May

This winter was a long and harsh one.  Ghastly winds and mounds of not-so-fluffy-white snow resulted in an archaic, probably-dead-for-years, behemoth tree landing only inches from completely destroying my entire family room.  My deck was demolished along with everything on it, including my precious grill.  I thought to myself, I can’t possibly live like this; I need my fix of grill marks for the year.  With summer arriving fast in the Northeast and Memorial Day weekend being the official “hello summer, so nice to see you”, I quickly made my way to Home Depot and purchased a sparkly new grill for my sparkly new deck that extends off of my luckily still standing family room.

The christening of the grill:

2 swordfish steaks
1 lemon, zested and juiced
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons white wine
1 clove garlic, chopped
Olive oil
Salt
Freshly cracked black pepper

 

Papaya and Feta Salad:Papaya

1 papaya
Feta crumbles
Fresh mint
1 lime, juiced
1 tablespoon honey
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt
Freshly cracked black pepper

 

Roasted Zucchini:

Sliced zucchini, spears or discs
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped or just cracked
Olive oil
Salt
Freshly cracked black pepper

 

Baked Plantain Chips:

1 plantain, sliced ( I sliced them lengthwise on the mandolin so they could be used for dipping)
Olive oil
SaltPlantain

To prepare the swordfish, rinse the fish and pat them completely dry before brushing them with olive oil and seasoning with salt and pepper.  Place the swordfish steaks on the grill, making sure not to touch them to allow grill marks to form.  Grill the steaks about 3-4 minutes onSwordfish Steaks each side, depending on the thickness of each steak.  Heat a small saucepan. This can be done on the grill or on the stove.  Add the white wine to the pan and let some of the alcohol burn off before adding the juice and zest of a lemon.  Allow the sauce to reduce then add the butter to smooth it out.  When the steaks are done, pour the sauce over the fish.   Plantain Slices

To prepare the plantain chips, preheat the oven to 325°.  Brush each slice with olive oil and season with a sprinkle of salt. Line up the chips on a baking sheet and bake until golden and crispy, about 10-15 minutes.   Season with a pinch more of salt while the chips are still hot.

* Plantains are a member of the banana family but are used more as a vegetable rather than a fruit.  They are often referred to as the potatoes of the Caribbean, South America, or Western Africa.  When the peel is green (pictured above) they are more starchy and bland, used for things like tostones, aranitas, plantain chips, and mofongo, to name a few.  When the peel changes to brown or black, the plantain is sweeter and has a more banana-like aroma, used for things like maduros, which are fried or sautéed plantains, and even plantain fritters.

Baked Plantain Chips

Roasted Zucchini:
Roasting is my method of choice when it comes to cooking vegetables because it is the simplest way to cook a vegetable and it imparts the most flavor.  To roast the zucchini, place the sliced zucchini on a baking sheet or a piece of foil and coat in olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper and spread the garlic cloves on top of the zucchini.  Roast at 375° for about 10 minutes.

Time for the salad.  I had a papaya from the local farmer’s market and I still had some feta cheese from my Bucket o’ Feta, so I decided to makePapaya & Feta Salad a refreshing salad with the two.  Add a little fresh mint, toss in some vinaigrette and perfection is born.  Whisk the juice from a lime, olive oil, and honey together in a bowl.  Pour over the papaya and fresh mint, season with salt and pepper and top with feta crumbles.  I love adding fresh herbs to fruit and salty-sweet has always been a classic combination.  I feel it is the job of any artist and creative mind to break the rules while still maintaining a sense of tradition.

 Nom Nom

 

xoxo, Xristina Marie
The Refined Palate

♥      ♥      ♥      ♥      ♥

© 2011 Xristina Miros

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Stuffed Chicken Breast

22 May

topped with
Pearl Onions
in a
White Wine Reduction

Spinach & Feta Stuffed Chicken Breast with Artichoke Hearts

This meal came about when I was making dinner for myself, using only what I had available in my house. When I can, I like to plan all my meals and take a trip to the grocery store to buy the things I need; however, this particular night I found myself having to make do with what was already accessible to me. This is what I came up with: chicken breast stuffed with spinach and feta with a side of artichoke hearts. I had an undeniable craving for artichokes and I thought, how about making a sort of “deconstructed” spinach and artichoke dip? The filling has a Greek twist to it, resembling the Greek spinach pie dish called spanakopita. Everything I make reflects who I am as a person and I think that is exactly what food should do; it should be an extension of yourself.

For the chicken:

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, butterflied and pounded out
1 package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 scallion, chopped
Red pepper flake, as spicy as you like it
Fresh dill
Fresh or dried mint; I used mint from the garden that has been dried
White wine, just a splash
Feta cheese, crumbled
Salt
Black pepper
Olive oil

Bucket o' Feta

Bucket o’ Feta
You know you’re Greek when…

For the sauce:

Pearl onions, enough for one serving (I used frozen)
1/4-1/2 cup white wine
3 tablespoons butter

For the artichoke hearts:

1 package frozen artichokes ( I had fresh artichokes in my refrigerator but I am saving those for something else so stay tuned!)
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 lemon, juiced
White wine, just a splash
Red pepper flake
Fresh dill
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil

In a sauté pan, heat a small amount of olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the chopped garlic and scallions along with the pinch of red pepper flake and cook for a few minutes until soft. After draining all the water from the spinach, add it to the pan and splash the pan with some white wine, just for some extra flavor. To the spinach mixture, add the mint and fresh dill and season with salt and pepper. Remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool. Once the mixture has cooled down a bit, add some crumbled feta to it. Butterflied & Pounded Chicken Breast

* You can add a beaten egg to the spinach mixture before setting it up on top of the chicken breast. The egg will make the mixture softer as opposed to it being a bit stringy if you don’t add it. This step is not absolutely necessary; it is just a tip for you to take into consideration.

Clean and rinse your chicken breast. Pat the chicken breast dry and place it on a cutting board. Using your knife, butterfly your chicken breast and flatten it onto the cutting board. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the chicken breast and using a meat mallet, pound the breast out until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pSpinach & Feta Stuffed Chicken Breastepper. Take the cooled spinach mixture and flatten it on top of the chicken breast. From one end, start to roll the chicken breast and fasten it with a toothpick. When I am without a toothpick, I use a paper clip that I bend out of shape. When I was in college I was forced to be innovative and I used this trick all the time. Butcher’s twine would also work well, but at the time, I never had that on hand either.

Rolled Chicken Breast Preheat your oven to 300°. Heat some olive oil in a sauté pan. Use just enough to brown the chicken; you do not want too much oil in the pan. When the oil is hot, carefully place the chicken breast in the pan seam-side down. Placing the seam-side down will help keep the roll intact during cooking. After a few minutes, turn the chicken breast over and brown the other side; do the same on all four sides. Place the entire pan in the oven to continue cooking. After a few minutes of the chicken being in the oven, I add the pearl onions to the hot pan to get the sauce started. Allow the onions to brown a bit before splashing the white wine into the pan. At this point, add the butter to the sauce and allow it to reduce. The butter will give the sauce a velvety consistency.

* Keep an eye on the chicken in the oven. After 5 minutes or so, turn the oven off and open the door to allow some of the heat to escape so the chicken will not be over-cooked. This will still keep the chicken warm without drying it out.

Finished Chicken Breast

On to the artichokes. Heat a small amount of olive oil in a pan and add the chopped garlic. Let the garlic cook for a minute or so before adding the artichokes. Once the artichokes are added, splash the pan with some white wine, squeeze a lemon over the top, and season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flake. Let the flavors combine a bit before removing from the heat. Once off the heat, top with fresh dill.

Sliced Chicken

At this point, the chicken will have already been cooked and rested. Resting the chicken is important. Do not cut into the chicken, or any piece of meat, immediately after you remove it from the oven; let it rest to allow the juices to redistribute themselves through the meat. Slice the chicken and top with the pearl onion and wine reduction. Serve the artichokes as a side.

Préparée avec amour,
Xristina Marie
for TRP

© 2011 Xristina Miros

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What do you mean, you don’t eat no meat?!

13 May

It’s okay, I make lamb!

Lamb Ribs

Lamb Ribs

Apologies to anyone I tricked into thinking this was actually a vegetarian post…

Did you know that lamb is the only meat accepted by all religions? While some religions do not eat pork or beef, lamb is universally agreed upon. This may be because lamb is an important tradition in many religions and one of the only animals deemed an acceptable sacrifice. Lamb is not as popular in the states as it is overseas, but why? I am sure there is no concrete way to satisfy this answer as it is most likely a factor of opinions standing in the way. You see, only in America can we be so particular about the way we eat.

As I mentioned in a previous post, My Big Fat GREEK Easter , no part of the lamb goes to waste. Every part of the animal is devoured, the eyeballs, the brain, the tongue, the ribs; every last bone is scraped clean. The ribs are one of my favorite parts of the lamb to eat, not only because they are flavorsome, but also because they are so very hard to come by. I should not have to wait until Easter each year to have them; that just doesn’t seem fair. Luckily, my Thio Barry (thio is pronounced like tio in Spanish, only with a Th sound instead) informed me that a local grocery store sells lamb ribs in their meat section. I have searched various supermarket chains but I can only find them at one particular store; Shop Rite, a local chain in the New York/New Jersey area. I know what you’re thinking, that lamb is usually pricey to begin with but the ribs must be outrageous considering pork and beef ribs are usually pretty expensive. Well, fortunately that is not the case. These beautiful little babies usually go for around $1.70 per pound! The average price for boneless, skinless chicken breast is at least $2.00 per pound and that is when it is on sale. How could you go wrong?

This is without a doubt the simplest recipe I have ever posted. If you know how to turn on your oven’s broiler you will be able to make these ribs, unless you’re just that horrible in the kitchen. In that case, I would probably request a supervisor.

Ingredients:

Lamb ribs, enough to feed those coming for dinner

SaltLamb Ribs

Pepper

Dried Mint

Dried Oregano

Lemons, juiced

Set your broiler to 500°.
Liberally season the ribs on each side with salt, pepper, mint, and oregano. Do NOT trim the fat cap. I repeat, no trimming of the fat cap! Place a broiling rack on top of another pan and rest the ribs fat side up on the broiling rack. The pan underneath is to catch the fat that will drip off of the ribs. The reason I say to start the ribs fat side up is so the thickLamb Ribs layer of fat can render and drip down into the meat, keeping it moist during the broiling process. When you see the fat start to melt away and form a crisp skin, about 15 minutes, it is time for you to turn the ribs. Let the other side cook for about 5 minutes. Take the ribs out of the oven and slice each rib next to the bone. Sprinkle some extra mint and oregano over the ribs. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the top, according to taste, and serve.

*NOTE: These ribs can be grilled but the amount of fat dripping off will cause the flame to flare up. If you want to grill them, be extra careful.

*NOTE: If you can’t find lamb ribs in your grocery store, try your local butcher.

*TIP: The ribs can also be used to make a stock. Add them to cold water along with some aromatics like carrots, celery, onions, and bay leaves, and simmer for several hours.

Lamb Ribs

Nom Nom!

Au Revoir♥

Bisous, Xristina Marie
The Refined Palate

© 2011 Xristina Miros

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