Roast Chicken and Pickled Blueberries

Pickled blueberries. I wish I could say I was clever enough to think up - or create them- myself. Sadly, I am not. Luckily, I know people who are! The Cosmic Cowgirl was kind enough to share a jar of her pickled blueberries with me while chatting at the opening of La Sombra (was extremely pleased with their opening, and their pisco sours were delicious!).

Several weeks went by and I couldn't think of how to do these blueberries justice. Finally, I let them adorn a simple roast chicken breast and paired with delicious veggies which turned out to be just the right way to let these little berries shine. Not all of you will be lucky enough to enjoy these pickled blueberries yourself (unless she's kind enough to post the recipe on her blog - hint hint :) ), so perhaps try your favorite jam whisked with a bit of vinegar to add your own bit of zing to your favorite fruit.

Roast Chicken with Pickled Blueberries

3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons honey
Juice of one lime
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup pickled blueberries

Combine garlic, honey, lime, olive oil and salt and pepper in a small bowl. Transfer to a large ziplock bag and add chicken. Seal and toss to coat chicken. Marinade for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Shake excess marinade off of chicken and place in a baking dish. Cook for 45 to 55 minutes, or until chicken is 165 degrees. Let chicken rest 5 minutes and serve with blueberries on top.

Rosemary Roasted Vegetables

4 carrots
2 zucchini
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 sprig rosemary (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary

Peel carrots and cut into 1/2 inch thick sticks. Cut zucchini into 1/2 in sticks. Place on a baking sheet and toss with olive oil and salt and pepper. Place extra sprig rosemary on sheet and roast 30 minutes. Toss with fresh chopped rosemary and serve.

Rosemary Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes (adapted from Claire Robinson's 5 Ingredient Fix recipe)

2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled
3 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup half and half
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary

Cut potatoes into 1 inch pieces and place in cool water. Bring to a boil in salted water and reduce to a simmer. Cook until fork tender, about 35 minutes. Drain potatoes and set aside.

In the same pot, melt butter and gook garlic one minute. Add half and half and stir to combine. Add potatoes back in and mash to desired consistency. Stir in blue cheese and rosemary and serve.

Pineapple Turkey Burgers

I love reading my friend and coworker Emily's blog, Cooking Inside the Lines. We both share a passion for cookbooks and food magazines, but she actually takes the time and diligence to follow recipes and rate them. Thankfully, we have similar food tastes, so she does test runs of all the recipes I want to try. Lately she's been on a pineapple jam kick, which I thought would be the perfect topping for one of my favorites, turkey burgers! This one is a bit decadent and not for the weak-hearted :)

Pineapple Turkey Burgers

Burgers:
2 pounds lean ground turkey
2 tablespoons minced red onion
2 tablespoons minced bell pepper
1 tablespoon basalmic vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
2 ounces goat cheese

Toppings:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 poblano pepper, sliced
1 tablespoon basalmic vinegar
6 whole wheat hamburger buns
1/2 cup pineapple jam
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Preheat a large grill pan or skillet on medium heat. Combine turkey, onion, pepper, vinegar, lemon, parsley and salt and pepper in a bowl. Form into 6 even-sized patties. Divide goat cheese into 6 portions and roll into balls. Place one ball in the middle of each patty and pull meat around it so that the cheese is hidden in the middle. Grill turkey burgers about 10 minutes on each side, or until the inside is no longer pink.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet and saute onion and peppers on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add basalmic vinegar and cook another 3 minutes. Toast hamburger buns and spread pineapple jam on each side. Top with a burger patty and basalmic glazed vegetables. Finally, add some crumbled bacon. Then listen to all the yummy noises made at your table :)

I served these with Guy Fieri's Sofrito Mashed Potatoes- love them!

In Your Dreams Brussel Sprouts

Ok, I have an embarrassing food confession. I dream about food - a lot. A few weeks ago I had the most vivid dream about hosting a dinner party where I served a delicious brussel sprouts dish. Mind you I've never actually cooked brussel sprouts. Well, the dream stuck with me, so I decided to recreate my okra masterpiece to see if my dream sprouts held up. It was delicious and simple and made me realize that I actually DO like brussel sprouts!

In Your Dreams Brussel Sprouts

4 pieces bacon
1 package fresh brussel sprouts (about 3 cups)
1/2 cup diced shallots
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large cast iron skillet on medium heat and cook bacon until crisp. Remove from skillet and reserve drippings. When cook, crumble.

While bacon is cooking, remove stems from okra and cut in half if large. Add diced shallots and brussel sprouts to bacon drippings in cast iron skillet and saute 10-12 minutes, until sprouts begin to brown and is no longer crunchy. Stir in vinegar, crumbled bacon and season with salt and pepper. Enjoy!

I served with a simple pretzel honey crusted chicken and homemade mashed potatoes. For chicken, I bought chicken thighs, coated them in honey then dredged in crushed salted pretzels. Bake at 350 about 30 minutes or until chicken is 180 degrees (170 if using chicken breast).

Finished it off with a tasty sauvignon blanc :)

Brie Cheese Chicken

I rarely take the time to bake chicken breasts and often either sauting or grilling them. I had a wheel of brie cheese on hand, however, and thought it woudl be lovely to stuff chicken breasts with brie and bake it, what a subtle, yet creamy flavor! I also used some of the great produce that I got for free from Whole Foods outside of the Hill Country Food & Wine festival last weekend which I was so excited about.

Brie Cheese Chicken

4 chicken breasts, sliced horizontally almost all the way through
1 wheel of brie cheese, cut into slices
1/2 cup fig jam
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread a couple tablespoons of fig jam on the brie slices and then place in the slits in the chicken breasts. Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish and cook, uncovered about 50 minutes to an hour. Enjoy!

Parmesan and Basil Mashed Potatoes

3 pounds potatoes (I used a combination of peeled russets and red potatoes with skins on)
1/3 cup milk, warmed
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Salt and pepper to taste

Slice potatoes and place in salted boiling water, cooking until tender (about 20 minutes depending on size of the slices); drain. Place potatoes back in warm pot and smash, then add milk and butter and stir. Add in cheese, basil and salt and pepper and combine.

I served this with a side salad of fresh romaine lettuce, sliced carrots (also from whole foods!), crumbled bacon from that morning's breakfast and a light caesar dressing.

The purple potatoes I got from Whole Foods were fun to play with, so we experimented making purple potato chips by just frying them in oil and seasoning with sea salt. So fun!

Italian Meatloaf

I love a good meatloaf, but it's surprising how rarely I eat or make it. Ever since Cooking Light did a feature on meatloaf in a fall 2006 issue, I've realized there's more that you can do with it than the traditional.

I also recently visited the Austin downtown farmer's market and picked up some really delicious fig and red wine jam from Watson Farm in Fredericksburg, which I thought would be the perfect topping for a rich Italian meatloaf- boy was I right!

Italian Meatloaf

2 pounds ground sirloin
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
1 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup shredded parmesan
1/2 cup fig and red wine jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first 9 ingredients (through basil) and form in 2 9 by 13 loafs. Mix cheeses and top on one of the loaves. Place the other loaf on top and seal edges. Spread jam over it and bake an hour and 15 minutes, or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees.

I served these with some really simple mashed potatoes that complimented the meatloaf marvelously.

Sun Dried Tomato Mashed Potatoes

1 pound small red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes in oil, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook potatoes in salted boiling water about 20 minutes, until soft. In the mean time, pulse tomatoes in a food processor until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and pulse until creamy. When potatoes are done, drain and place back in warm pot. Mash with a fork until slightly lumpy. Mix in sun dried tomato mixture and serve.

This wasn't my prettiest meal, but it sure was tasty!

Pesto Turkey Burgers

After a long separation due to travel, my roommate Rachel finally returned. Naturally, I had to make a meal utilizing her favorite ingredients to welcome her back- pesto and sun dried tomatoes. I know I know, my last post included those two ingredients as well, but this is much different and just as delicious!

I love making chicken and turkey burgers- it's one of my signatures that I can make 1,000 different ways. Tonight's is an Italian turkey burger that I have to admit is one of my best :)

Italian Turkey Burgers

1 pound ground turkey breast

1/4 cup diced red onion

1 teaspoon Italian seasonings

8 sun dried tomatoes, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon pesto

1/4 cup light mayo
5 ciabatta rolls
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
olive oil

Heat a grill pan on medium high heat and coat with cooking spray. Combine turkey, onion, seasonings, tomoes and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Shape into 5 patties. Place patties on grill and cook about 5 minutes on each side.

In the meantime, combine pesto with mayo for a pesto aioli of sorts, add a little lemon juice for extra zing.

Slice ciabatta rolles in half lengthwise and drizzle a little olive oil on the cut side. Sprinkel rosemary on and broil for 2-3 minutes, until lightly toasted. Slather on some pesto aioli and include a patty.

I served these with Sofrito Mashed Potatoes, a recipe from Guy Fieri of Food Network. My friend Emily said I simply HAD to try them, and she was right-- these potatoes were the most interesting ones I've ever had! Granted, sofrito doesn't really go with Italian I realize, but both dishes were so good nobody cared :)

Sofrito Mashed Potatoes

2 tablespoons salt

2 pounds potatoes (recommended: Yukon gold)

3 tablespoons canola oil

1/4 cup chopped red onions

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

3 tablespoons chopped garlic

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/4 cup white wine

3 ounces tomato sauce

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons salt

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves

Fill a large pot with water, salt and potatoes and bring to boil. Cook until fork tender.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium sauce pot over medium heat. When oil is hot add onions and peppers and saute for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until it begins to brown. Lower the heat and add tomato paste and stir for 3 to 5 minutes. Deglaze with white wine and reduce by half.

Add tomato sauce and bring to simmer for 5 minutes. Then stir in butter and cream and set aside, covered to keep warm.

When potatoes are fork tender, drain water and mash slowly adding the sofrito mixture. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with cilantro.

I toyed with the idea of putting the sofrito mixture in the food processor, but in the end the chunkier potatoes won out and were delicious! I might try that method next time to see how it compares though.

Question: What's your favorite kind of burger?