Apples, Apples, Apples

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day. It was sunny and the air was crisp, a perfect day for apple picking. We took a drive to Honey Pot Hill Farms in Stow, MA for our Saturday date. We went to this particular orchard once before for apple picking and liked that they charged by the basket instead of by the pound. If I wanted to pay by the pound, I could go to the grocery store. The drive out was very nice, we commented on how nice the houses in the 'burbs look and agreed that we are still not ready to pull that trigger. As we got closer to the farm, we were in a long line of traffic of other apple pickers. We decided to park on a side street and walk a quarter mile to the farm. As we got there, we must have worked up quite an appetite because we were hungry for hot apple cider and apple cider doughnuts. Neither were a disappointment. After the snack, we walked up the short hill to pay for our apple picking bags. We were quite ambitious and decided to get a large bag versus a small and medium bag for $3 less.

Apple picking was very fun. We both got on the ladders to go higher into the trees. Mike wore what we decided was the perfect apple picking shirt as it had a front pocket. I did not wear the perfect apple picking shirt and had to toss my apples down to Mike. We got a bunch of apples; McIntosh, Cortland, and Empire apples.

Today I went to the grocery store and came home to find a ton of apples already peeled and cored for my baking wishes. Mike is a great sous chef and prepped a ton of apples. As a result, I made an apple crumb pie, apple crisp, applesauce, and a savory dish of kielbasa with apple slices. Be prepared for an apple overload on eatingwithkeating.

Really Great Chicken Salad

I love chicken salad. There, it's said. I think that my favorite comes from the Firehouse Deli in Fairfield, Connecticut. It is such a great place in good old Fairfield. The sandwiches are so great, that once Mike, Michele, Lea, and I drove up from Hoboken to get sandwiches on a dull Sunday afternoon. Maybe the idea of a sandwich from Firehouse will be enough to get me to go to our ten year (GASP!) college reunion in June. This is not nearly as good as Firehouse, but it hit the spot one night after work. Bonus, it's easy to prepare.

two cooked chicken breasts (I cooked them on our George Foreman grill)
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used low fat and low calorie)
4 tbsp sour cream (I used light sour cream. Fat free sometimes doesn't taste as good)
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl until well blended.

I like to serve this on toasted bread. However, crackers work just as well. I think the lemon juice really works with the chicken salad. I could have put in celery or add nuts for some crunch, but why mess with something that you like. A piece of lettuce on the sandwich could be put on the bread to give the sandwich the crunch that you may desire.

Look out for a lot of posts

I have been so bad at updating the blog lately. It's been a busy past few weeks. There was a bachelorette party that took a lot of energy out of me. There was the night before the bachelorette party that took a lot out of me. There was a condo meeting that took a lot out of me. But, I am trying to get back into the swing of things. I have a feeling that there will be a lot that goes on the blog today. I will post a recipe for a really great chicken salad. I have to recap a cooking class. I have a classic dinner to post. Finally, I am going to put a lot of apple recipes up. Mike and I went apple picking and have a ridiculous amount of apples. I will probably make a pie, apple crisp, and some entrees with apples. Since I am planning on a lot of sweet baked dishes, I don't know how smart it was to quit the gym. I really to need to find a new one.

Pork Chops in a Lemon Caper Sauce

This has a great combination, lemon and capers. What could be wrong with that combination? This is another great one from Cooking Light. I am trying to be better about what I eat these days and pay more attention to calories and fat content. Soon enough, I am sure that I will be off that wagon and will go back to cooking with real bacon and more oil. However, for now I am going with the lower fat content.

Pork Chops in a Lemon Caper Sauce

(from Cooking Light October 2008)

2 teaspoons olive oil

4 lean pork chops

1/3 cup flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons dried breadcrumbs

3 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 egg white

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon white wine (I used a Chardonnay)

2 tablespoons capers

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Combine flour and salt in one shallow bowl. Combine breadcrumbs, cheese, and pepper in a separate shallow bowl. Finally, lightly beat 1 egg white in a third shallow bowl.
3. Remove the pork from the skillet and keep warm. Add in the broth, wine, and capers. Simmer until there is about 1/4 cup of liquid left. Serve over the pork chops.

I really liked this one. I used a thicker cut of pork chops than I usually use, and was not happy with how long they took to cook. I was counting on quick meal as I ran once I got home from work and did not start to cook until 7:30. That is late eating in the Carey household. I am thinking that I may try the sauce as a marinade and let the meat soak up the juices for a day. Also, this sauce may taste great with chicken. It's something to try.

Beef Boliche

This is another one that I think tastes better the next day. This was the first time that I tried this dish, or heard of it for that matter. I love combining meats and this was a great dish for it. In this case, I left out a few of the ingredients. I am only listing the ones that I used. The recipe recommended olives, I would have included olive, but I did not have any. I'd recommend having a nice big piece of bread to sop up some of the juices.

Quick Beef Boliche
(from Cooking Light October 2008)
1 pound top sirloin (cut into 1 inch pieces)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 pieces of chicken sausage (I used Cajun flavored chicken sausage)
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups of diced potatoes (I used canned potatoes)
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1. Heat a large Dutch oven over high heat. Coat with cooking spray. Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Add beef to pan; saute 3 minutes or until browned. Remove casings from sausage and add to the pan; saute 1 minute or until browned, stirring to crumble. Stir in bell pepper, onion, and garlic; saute 2 minutes or until tender. Add potatoes. Pour tomatoes evenly over beef mixture. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 35 minutes or until beef is tender.

I chose to serve this with heated black beans seasoned with cumin. I would definitely try this one again. I think I would drain a little bit of the juice from the tomatoes so it would be less soupy.

Grilled Pizza

This was take-two of making pizza this weekend. Friday night was close to a minor disaster with the smoke alarms going off. I am happy to report that tonight's dinner did not involve a close call with the Boston Fire Department. I have wanted to try grilling pizza for a while and as I did not want to heat up the oven again, it was the perfect time to try this method. Also, I hate to use the dough that I made on Friday night.

I looked online for some tips on the best manner to grill the dough. I found that one should grill both sides of the dough. We put cooking spray on the grill plates for ease of turning over the dough. Another tip, was to thinly slice the cheese and not put on too much. In addition, one should not put a lot of toppings on the pizza or put on a thick layer of sauce. We also chose to use tomatoes as the topping. If I were to use meat, I think I would cook it before putting it on the pizza.

Pizza Dough
from Cooking Light September 2008
1/2 teaspoon dry yeast (about two packets)
6-7 tablespoons of warm water (divided)
1 cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of cornmeal

1. Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm water in a small bowl; let stand 5 minutes.
2. Place flour and salt in a food processor. Pulse two times, or until blended. With food processor on, slowly add the yeast mixture through food chute. Add enough of the remaining water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough forms a ball; process 30 seconds Turn dough out onto a floured surface; knead lightly 4 to 5 times. Place dough in a bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat the top of the dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size.
   
3. Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes.
   
4. Roll dough into a 10 inch circle on a lightly floured surface. I also used cornmeal on the surface.
   

Back to grilling the dough, I grilled it for 5 minutes and then turned it over. After a minute or two, I spread the sauce. For tonight's pizza, I chose to use pesto as the sauce. Due to my basil plant being dunzo for the season, I used commercial pesto. I lightly spread it on the dough. Next I placed the thin slices of fresh mozzarella on the crust. I let this melt before placing the tomatoes that I mixed with a bit of garlic powder. I wasn't keeping track of the amount of time the tomatoes were on the pizza. I kept checking the bottom of the crust to make sure it didn't get burned.

Next time I try this, I will use different toppings. I used too many tomatoes for tonight's dinner and Mike said that they were not chopped finely enough. I think it's a matter of personal preference. I like chunky tomatoes.

Dinner this week

Last week, I did not have a lot of dishes planned for the week. It was just as well, as I got sick with a cold and was tired after coming home from work. Fewer dinners meant fewer leftovers and I was forced to buy lunch a few times. This week, I have enough dinners planned to yield leftovers for the following days' lunch.

I am going to take a stab at making pizza again this week. It was a bit of a disaster on Friday night. The pizza stone got too hot in the oven and something from it was dripping onto the hot oven floor and caused the smoke alarms to go off. The plus, the smoke alarms work. The minus, the piercing noise of the alarms frightened the cats and would not stop. This time, I am going to grill the pizza to avoid the oven getting too hot.

• grilled pizza margherita
• beef boliche
• pork chops
• chicken & pineapple
• curry pasta primavera