In the kitchen...

Yogurt Marinated Chicken


This chicken was so good and tender!! They key to marinading is the longer the meat stays in the marinade, the more tender it is! 

I used 4 large boneless breasts and cut them in half


Marinade:
Plain Greek Yogurt
3 cloves of garlic, chopped up
Salt & Pepper about 1/2 tsp of each
Paprika
Lemon
1/4 chicken broth
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp Lemon Thyme (finely chopped)


Mix all of the marinade ingredients together 


Season chicken with a little bit of salt on both sides. Then coat the chicken in the marinade on both sides. Cover the chicken and let it marinade for at least 3 hours, remember longer is better.
Cook it on the grill until it is done. 
I also grilled some fresh green beans and onions that I got from the garden.

The picture that you see above is this recipe, I added some Muscadine jam to the top of the chicken and then sprinkled some Apple Mint on top...
It was incredible!






Grilled Chicken


This is one of my favorite chicken recipes for the summer. It is fast and easy AND it tastes GREAT! 


Get enough boneless skinless chicken for the family,
actually I would get extra because everybody wants seconds!
Buy a bottle of your favorite Italian Dressing,
I use a Balsamic Italian flavor
Some Lowry's Seasoning Salt
Lemon
Fresh Lemon Thyme (mine comes from the garden)




Cut each of the breasts in half
Sprinkle both sides with the Lowry's salt
In a glass bowl (kind of flat) pour some of the salad dressing
Then pour some on to the chicken (both sides)
Do this to each piece and then cover all of the chicken with the dressing
Take about a tablespoon or 2 of the lemon thyme and cut it up in to small pieces 
then sprinkle the chicken with the thyme. 


Then marinade it overnight...remember, the longer you marinade it, the better it tastes!


When you are ready, grill the chicken on both sides and just before it is finished grilling, squeeze some lemon on to it!
That's it!
Let me know what ya think!

I am posting a really great recipe for Apple Mint Chutney, it goes great with pork AND it gives you a chance to use those fresh herbs from the garden. This recipe calls for Apple Mint, but you can use any flavor of mint.

3 cups of sliced AND peeled Granny Smith apples

1/2 c golden raisins

1/2 c brown sugar

1/3 c apple cider vinegar

1/4 finely chopped onion

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint leaves

1/4 tsp salt

Put all of those ingredients in a pot and stir them together, bring the mixture to a boil but don't walk off and leave it! You need to keep stirring it.

Lower the heat and simmer it for about 5 minutes or until the apples get soft and the mixture gets thick...

That's it! Keep it in the fridge until you need it, but don't wait to long to use it, ya wanna eat it fresh from the stove!

Let me know what you think!

One of my favorite things to do is have people over and share a good meal! No matter what, pork always makes people squeal! (I know, bad joke, but it's the one I'm going with) Whether I cook a whole pig outside in my pit or it's a roast inside in the oven, it's a crowd pleaser!

Chicken and Shrimp Enchiladas with

Roasted Tomatillo Chile Salsa

Roasted Tomatillo Chile Salsa:

1 pound tomatillos, husked

1 white onion, peeled, sliced, quartered or whole

4 garlic cloves

2 jalapenos (if you like it hot)

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves

1/2 lime, juiced

9 tablespoons butter

Enchiladas:

Extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 medium onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups chicken stock

Chopped cilantro leaves

2 pounds of shrimp

About 2 pounds raw chicken breast, cooked/shredded

Salt & Freshly ground black pepper

10 large flour tortillas

1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

2 cups sour cream

Chopped tomatoes and cilantro leaves, for garnish

Guacamole, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

For the salsa:

On a baking tray, roast tomatillos, onion, garlic and jalapenos for 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer the roasted vegetables and any juices on the bottom of the tray to a food processor.(if you don't have a food processor use a blender...if you don't have either, well I guess you could pour it in a sock and beat it with a hammer) Add the cumin, salt, cilantro, and lime juice and pulse mixture until well combined but still chunky.

Enchiladas:

Pour some olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and caramelized - then the garlic and cumin, cook for another minute or so.

Sprinkle on the flour and stir to ensure the flour doesn't burn. Gradually add the chicken stock. Continue stirring over a low simmer until the flour cooks and the liquid thickens.

Turn off the heat, add half of the roasted tomatillo chile salsa, some additional fresh chopped cilantro. In a seperate pan, heat 2 TBLS of olive oil and add chicken (cook shrimp seperately and add later, don't over cook it or it will be chewy). Cook until done, shred the chicken then fold in the shredded chicken meat and shrimp with the salsa mix. Season, to taste,(don't eat all the shrimp at this point, save some for the dish)

Change the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees F and begin assembling the dish. Take a large baking dish and smear the bottom with some of the reserved tomatillo salsa. Now take the flour tortillas and briefly heat them over the stove-top flame (or put them briefly under the broiler). Coat each tortilla lightly with the reserved salsa mix.

Put a scoop of the shredded chicken & shrimp-enchilada mix on top of the tortilla then sprinkle the shredded cheese. Fold the tortilla over the filling and roll it up. Place the tortillas in the baking dish (try using a spatula instead of your hands).

Finally pour over some more of the salsa and top with the remaining shredded cheese. Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes until it's cracked on top. Garnish, with cilantro and tomato. Serve hot with Black Beans and Yellow Rice, the remaining tomatillo salsa, sour cream and fresh guacamole.

 I saw this original recipe made by Tyler Florence, but I made some changes in order to meet the needs of my taste buds, friends and family feel free to do the same.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

DAVID'S LEMON-LIME PORK CHOPS

Explodes in your mouth with flavor!

 8 Pork Chops, on the bone

Lime Juice

Salt

Mrs. Dash Lemon-Pepper Seasoning

oil for cooking

Putting it all together:

Pour some lime juice on a plate and wet both sides of the chops, move it to another plate and add a little bit of salt on one side of the pork, then add the Mrs. Dash LIBERALLY on the same side. Repeat this and keep stacking those chops.

Pour a little bit of oil in the pan...(it only takes a little) turn the heat on medium to high...just don't let the oil burn! We want to sear the meat... (pssst,that is what is going to hold the flavor in). Take the chop and put it seasoning side down in to the pan.. While that side is cooking, go ahead and season the bare side with salt and lemon pepper. After about 3-4 minutes, turn the pork over and cook the other side for a couple of minutes. The pork should be golden brown on both sides.

That's it! It is that easy.

Make sure your side dishes are complete before you start cooking the pork. Eat it right away because it is best when it is straight off of the stove!

One of my favorite side dishes with the pork is grilled vegetables. I used yellow squash and zucchini squash (onion would be good in there too). Julienne the vegetables and place them in the center of a piece of foil. put in a couple of squirts of lime juice (not to much), salt and lemon -pepper. Wrap the foil up and stick it on the grill for about 20 minutes,(maybe a little longer if it's pouring down rain like it was on me yesterday) and you are ready to go!

Let me know what you think.

This original recipie was for beef tenderloin but I changed it a little bit and used it on a pork tenderloin. Now, I heard this recipie was a family secret, but it may have come from an old issue of Southern Living...but since my family has been "southern living" for over 300 years, I'm really not sure if they got it from us or we got it from them,...

either way, I hope you like it.

DAVID'S PORK TENDERLOIN MARINADE

Get about a cup of soy sauce

2/3 of a cup of vegetable oil

3 Tbsp of brown sugar (more if you like it sweet)

2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard

A Tbsp of white vinegar, (I like rice vinegar)

A tsp of garlic powder

A bunch of green onions, chopped up

Mix all of those ingredients together...

Now put the tenderloin in a big or a bowl so it will get covered by the marinade. Cover the marinade up and put it in the fridge. You'll want to marinade the pork for at least 8 hours. Overnight is best.

Take the tenderloin out of the marinade (but don't throw the extra marinade out) Bring it to a boil in a small saucepan and put it aside. Use it to baste the tenderloin every now and then while it is cooking.

Put the pork in the oven at about 350 degrees. Usually you cook the pork about 20 minutes for every pound. A meat thermometer helps you see if it is done.