Soup's On!

Good evening everyone! With Tyler, I wanted to express my gratitude to our readers and followers of the blog for celebrating our three year anniversary. It started as a fun hobby to create healthy meal options and its blossomed into something much greater. It's been a great journey on becoming better cooks and seeing how far we've developed is tremendous. Of course, without our readers, this hasn't been possible. So again, a multitude of thanks goes to those who read our cooking escapades every week! It drives us to create delicious dishes, like the one I'm cooking tonight. 

The Recipe: Chicken Noodle Bowl

Original Recipe Found In: Cooking Light, May 2013

What You'll Need:

4 Ounces uncooked Linguine

2 Teaspoons Canola Oil, divided

2 boneless, skinless Chicken thighs

1 Cup chopped Yellow Onion

1 Tablespoon powdered Ginger, divided

2 Tablespoons minced Garlic, divided

1/4 Teaspoon crushed Red Pepper

3 1/4 Cups unsalted Chicken Stock

1 3/4 Cups Water

2 Teaspoons dark Sesame Oil

1 1/4 Cup sliced Mushrooms

1 Tablespoon lower-sodium Soy Sauce

1 Teaspoon Sugar

3/4 Cup Sugar Snap Peas, cut diagonally into 1 inch pieces

6 Green Onions, cut diagonally into 1 inch pieces

To start, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Without adding salt or oil, cook the linguine according to package directions.  Once the pasta is al dente, drain in a colander, rinse the pasta in cold water, and set aside. 

While the pasta is being prepared, you can begin to cook the chicken. In a large saucepan, heat one teaspoon of canola oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil is heated and swirled in the pan, add the chicken. Cook the chicken for six to eight minutes on each side, or until it is cooked all the way through. Transfer the chicken to a clean plate and let stand for five minutes. After the chicken is cool to handle, shred into pieces. 

Next, return the same pan to the stovetop and heat the remaining canola oil. After the pan has returned to medium-high heat, add the onion, one teaspoon ginger, one tablespoon garlic, and crushed red pepper. Cook this mixture for four minutes, until the onions become slightly translucent. Add the chicken stock and water to the pan, scraping the bottom of the pan for any browned bits and bring the liquid to a boil. Once at a boil, cover the pan and cook for 15 minutes. After this is cooked, use a sieve and pour the liquid into a bowl, discarding any solids. Pour the liquid back to the pot and return to the stovetop, keeping warm.

In a large skillet, heat the sesame oil over medium-high heat and swirl to coat.  Add the mushrooms and cook for six minutes until they become softened.  After the mushrooms are cooked, add the remaining ginger and garlic.  Stir this mixture for one minute until everything is well incorporated.  When the mushroom mixture is done cooking, add them to the stock mixture, along with the chicken, soy sauce, and sugar and bring this mixture to a simmer.

Next, stir in the sugar snap peas and cook for four minutes.  Stir in the green onions and pasta; continue to cook the mixture for three minutes, until the pasta begins to absorb some of the stock liquid.  Ladle the soup into bowls, serve, and enjoy!

The End Result:

This soup is super refreshing, regardless of what the temperature gauge says it is outside.  I think a lot of that relies on the green onions and sugar snap peas - those two vegetables give the soup a crunch that's not in any other soups.  Most of this recipe is spent on building the depth of flavors to the broth.  In this case, it works beautifully.  Instead of a typical chicken stock, we added an onion flavor, but removed the chopped yellow onion, before the soup got overcrowded.  Also, adding the soy sauce and sugar gave the soup a uniquely different taste - and yes, sugar really did give the soup a boost, despite the soup having no sweet taste whatsoever.  If you're in the mood for a soup that is pleasing on the pallet and for something that is a little out of the norm, this dish is for you!

Thanks for joining us this week.  Check back next week when we whip up a brand new batch of recipes!  Until then,

~Cheers!

Recaito - Our New Best Friend

Good evening everyone! This week (Friday, to be specific) will mark our third anniversary of culinary adventure here at Out of the Culinary. This little hobby that started 3 years ago as a way to keep ourselves accountable for eating healthy and cooking our own meals has taken off into its own community and become so much more than we ever could have imagined. We average 100 page views per day, with some posts jumping beyond 200. In 3 years, we’ve had over 200,000 unique visitors to our blog – an absolutely astounding number when you consider this page’s humble origins.

 We won’t be doing any grand posts or special recipes to mark the occasion. Instead, we plan to simply continue making healthy meals and testing recipes (and occasionally fixing said recipes) so our readers at home can follow along in our culinary adventures. A big thank you to all of our readers, whether you’ve been here since day one or if you just found us last week. It means a great deal to Maggie and I that our hobby brings enjoyment to others beyond ourselves.

 When you’ve been cooking (and writing about cooking) for three years, you have to learn to take inspiration from everywhere. This week, my inspiration came from an episode of Travel Channel’s “Man vs. Food”. Now, a show that glorifies pig out spots and food competitions is probably not the first place you might think a healthy cooking blog would draw inspiration from, but that’s just what happened last week.

 In this episode, the host, Adam Richman, traveled to Puerto Rico to sample of some of their cuisine. One of his stops was at a food truck called “El Churry” which featured a sandwich called the “Mixto Frito”. The premise behind this dish was simple; it was a blend of steak, chicken, potato sticks, special sauce, lettuce and a big soft bun. Delicious? You bet. Healthy? No way.

 I wasn’t interested in the sandwich so much as the marinade. It was only mentioned in passing, but the show quickly spoke about a marinade called “Sofrito” that featured green peppers, onion, garlic and “other ingredients”. Other than a brief mention by Mr. Richman regarding how good the meat was having been flavored in this sofrito, no more attention was paid to the dish. That brief feature was enough to catch my attention, however, and I decided I needed to look into this marinade myself.

 I quickly learned two things upon researching sofrito – 1, sofrito is EVERYWHERE in Mexican cooking, in fact, it’s dubbed “Mexican ketchup” in reference to its common use in nearly any Mexican dish. 2, the recipe featured on Man vs Food was NOT sofrito, despite being called that in the show. See, traditional sofrito is tomato based, while this version was bright green (IE – no tomatoes).

 FURTHER digging found the marinade was actually called “Recaito” (AKA, Puerto Rican sofrito) and IT is a common base in many Hispanic dishes (how have we never come across either of these bases / marinades before!?). Armed with my recipe for recaito, I set out to cook up my own recipe using the popular sauce. Here’s what I came up with:

The Recipe: Recaito Tacos
This is an Out of the Culinary original recipe

What You’ll Need:

(Serves 4)

2-3 LBS Skirt Steak (Trimmed of excess fat)
2 Green Peppers (Diced)
1 Large Yellow Onion (Diced)
1 Head Garlic (Peeled, diced)
1 Bunch Fresh Cilantro (Stems removed)
Corn or Flour Tortilla Shells

For the fry sauce:

1 Cup Ketchup
½ Cup Mayo (Low fat)
2 Cloves Garlic (Minced)

Begin by preparing your recaito. Once all of your veggies have been roughly diced, simply toss everything into a food processor and pulse until the mixture is perfectly blended. Transfer this mixture to a glass jar or sealable container and refrigerate until you’re ready to use. Recaito should stay fresh for about a week, but you can freeze any leftovers in 1 cup increments to use in future recipes.

 At least 24 hours before you intend to serve the steak, remove it from the refrigerator and trim the excess fat. Lightly season both sides of the steak with salt and pepper. Cover both sides of the steak heavily in the recaito, making sure to fill any cracks and crevices in the meat. Next, wrap the steak tightly in plastic wrap and return it to the refrigerator. Allow the steak to marinate in the recaito for 24-48 hours prior to cooking.

 Preheat and clean your grill, then bring the temperature up to 350-400 degrees. Remove the steak from the plastic wrap, but leave as much of the recaito on as possible. Place the steak on the grill and allow it to cook for 5 to 7 minute per side, or until it reaches your preferred level of “doneness”. As described, the steak will be medium well. Reduce the cooking time to increase rareness to your preference.

 While your steak is grilling, you can begin preparing the fry sauce. This sauce was also featured on the sandwich in the Man vs Food episode and simply called “ketchup mayo”. I’ve always known it by its other name – fry sauce. In a medium bowl, combine the ketchup, mayo and minced garlic. Whisk together until perfectly blended. Store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve. So long as you keep it in a sealed container, the fry sauce should stay fresh for 3 to 4 weeks.

 Once your steak has reached the desired doneness, transfer it to a cutting board and allow it to rest for 3 to 5 minutes before slicing it up into ½ strips and then cubing the meat into ¼ to ½ inch pieces.

 Begin constructing your tacos by spreading a thin layer of the fry sauce down the center of the tortilla. Spoon a helping of the meat onto the sauce, topped with a tablespoon of the recaito. (You can also add fresh lettuce if you so choose). Serve and enjoy!

The Results:

In a word – WOW! The recaito marinade was absolutely phenomenal. The great pepper, onion and garlic flavors really penetrated the meat and made the dish just burst with flavor. The unsung hero of this dish was the fry sauce; it provided a nice zesty kick that really broke up the seasoned flavors of the meat. Topping the dish with fresh recaito is the ‘piece de résistance’ as it adds a nice bright, fresh flavor, but manages to tie all of the flavors together.

 I’m always pleased when a homemade recipe comes together for a nice, lean dish. It’s an extra bonus when our inspiration comes from something not quite as healthy (in this case, a food truck sandwich) and we manage to duplicate the flavors while cutting down on the calories. (This dish comes in at about 200 calories per serving).

That’s all we have for you this evening. Maggie will take to the kitchen on Wednesday with a brand new recipe of her own. Until then,

~Cheers

Creating Culinary Classics

Good evening everyone! Sometimes, you just have to get creative. This week, I was in the mood to cook up some form of roasted meat on the grill and turn it into pulled / barbecue sandwiches. I was looking for something that centered around brisket, but was open to pork or even chicken if necessary. The problem was, I couldn't find an exact recipe to match all of my needs. So, I adapted. Tonight's recipe is a hybrid of two partial recipes I've found and had been keeping in my 'back pocket' for future use. I combined a rub & BBQ marinade from Jamie Oliver that was intended to go on ribs (we're not huge rib fans) with a coleslaw and refried bean concoction that is meant for brisket (I'm using pork) to create my own version of slow roasted BBQ pork sandwiches. Just because the recipe you're searching for doesn't exist, that doesn't mean you can't MAKE it. Let's get cooking!

The Recipes: Pulled BBQ Pork Sandwiches
Original Recipe Inspired From: Daisy May's BBQ Ribs (Jamie's America) & Smoked Brisket Tortas (Bon Appetite, April 2013)

What You'll Need:
(Serves 8)

2.5 - 3 Pounds Pork Loin
8 Ciabatta Rolls

For The Iceberg Slaw 

1/4 Cup Fresh Lime Juice
1/4 Cup Sour Cream (light)
1/2 Head of Iceberg Lettuce (Shredded)
1/2 Small Red Onion (Diced)

For The Refried Beans 

15 Ounces Pinto Beans (Rinsed)
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1/2 Small Red Onion (Diced)


For The Rub (Scale according to size of roast) 

3 Tablespoons Yellow Mustard
3.5 Tablespoons Paprika
1 Tablespoon Chili Powder

For The Marinade 

1/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar
2.5 Tablespoon Honey
1 Small Pat Unsalted Butter (Melted)
1 Beef Bouillon Cube

Stick with me on this one folks. The ingredient list is long, but it's not a very complicated recipe - I promise!


Begin by preparing your iceberg slaw and refried beans. Both of these dishes can be prepared the night before if you're tight on time.

For the coleslaw, in a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and sour cream. Whisk until the mixture is evenly blended. Add in the lettuce, red onion and a pinch of salt. Toss the mixture until the lettuce is evenly coated in the sour cream mixture. If you're finding your slaw to have too much lettuce, add a dollop of sour cream. Conversely, too much sour cream - add another handful of lettuce. Once combined, cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

To prepare the beans, add the vegetable oil to a small sauce pan over medium high heat. Once the oil is warm, add the onions and cook for 5 minutes or until the onions soften. Next, add 1/2 cup of water and the pinto beans. Using a small masher (or a spoon) mash the majority of the beans into a coarse pulp. Bring this mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat. Allow the mixture to simmer for 5 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens up. Set aside or store in the refrigerator if you're preparing this dish ahead of time.

About 1 hour prior to when you want to begin cooking, begin preparing your pork loin. First, spread the yellow mustard evenly across all side of the loin, creating a thin base layer - making sure to fill in all of the cavities. In a small bowl, combine the paprika, chili powder and a pinch of freshly ground kosher salt and black pepper. Toss until the spices are combined evenly, then carefully cover the roast in the spice mixture. Make sure to get even distribution across the loin, filling in all cracks and cavities.

Wrap the loin tightly in plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator for one hour (at least) prior to cooking. This allows the rub to really penetrate the meat and will really boost the final flavor of the pork.

After an hour, preheat your grill to 400 degrees and begin making teh marinade. In a small bowl, combine the melted butter, brown sugar and honey with 1 1/2 tablespoons of water. Whisk well until everything is blended. Remove your loin from the plastic wrap and set it on a large piece of heavy duty aluminum foil. Carefully pour your marinade over the loin, making sure to cover all of the sides as best you can. Tightly wrap the loin the foil and place it on the grill.

The rule of thumb with pork loins is 25 to 30 minutes of cook time per pound. Our loin was 2.5 pounds, so we're looking at 62 to 75 minutes. Determine your cook time, then cut that number in half. The first half of that cook time, the loin needs to be wrapped in the foil. Once you reach the halfway mark, remove the loin (still in the foil) from the grill, and carefully pull off the wrapping (removing it from the grill prevents the juices from falling onto the grill and creating flare ups - not fun!). Return the loin to the grill (sans foil) and allow it to cook for an additional 35-40 minutes (again, this depends on the size of your pork loin). I'd recommend turning the loin halfway through to ensure that all sides of the loin have equal opportunity to form a nice crust.

Once your pork reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees (which you should have easily passed by now - but always check just to be safe) you're ready to serve. Remove the loin from the grill and allow it to rest for 5 minutes (so the juices return to the center of the meat) prior to cutting or shredding (your preference here - you can choose to thinly slice the roast or simply shred it with a couple of forks).

Once sliced or shredded, you're ready to begin assembling your sandwiches. Spread a thin layer of the refried beans (reheated if you made them earlier) on the bottom of the bun (in this case, a ciabatta roll sliced in half). Next, add a helping of the pork and top that with a portion of the iceberg slaw we prepared earlier. Top with the other half of the ciabatta roll and enjoy!


The Results:

Superb! There's few things that can top a roast (of any kind) with a good BBQ rub. The pork is absolutely outstanding with the great, smoky and savory rub from Jamie Oliver's cookbook. Even though this rub is intended for ribs, the basic components compliment pork so well you'll never ever notice that it was designed for beef!

The iceberg slaw and refried beans add a nice element to the sandwich as well. The slaw provides a little brightness and fresh flavor while the refried beans add a great level of depth to the final flavor. The beans are rich, yet heavy and compliment the BBQ savoriness  very well. However, without the slaw, I think the final dish would be a little too savory (IE heavy) so I recommend at the very least to top the sandwich with lettuce - but this slaw is pretty great - so make it if you can.

That's all we have for you this week. We're back again next week with brand new cooking adventures. Until then,

~Cheers

An Asian Inspired Dish...From A Grill?

Good evening everyone!  Grilling has quickly become the great medium for our kitchen and culinary adventures.  Not only can you whip up something real simple on the grill (like hot dogs and burgers,) but different culinary styles can also utilize a grill.  Last night, I tried my hand at Mexican by grilling quesadillas and it was incredible delicious.  Tonight, I'm trying an Asian inspired recipe, that will use a lot of flavors for something for a relatively simple dish.

The Recipe:  Pork and Sweet Pepper Kebabs
Original Recipe Found In:  Cooking Light, May 2013

What You'll Need:
1/4 Cup lower-sodium Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon fresh Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon Ketchup
2 Teaspoons Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 Teaspoon crushed Red Pepper flakes
4 Garlic cloves, minced
1 (1 pound) Pork Tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
4-8 mini Red, Yellow, or Orange Bell Peppers

To start, place the soy sauce, lemon juice, ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, and minced garlic in a large bowl.  Mix all these ingredients until they are incorporated.  Pour the marinate into a ziplock bag and add the pork cubes.  Seal the bag and give it a quick shake.  Place the bag in the refrigerator and keep in for one hour, turning the bag on the other side after 30 minutes.

While the pork marinates, begin to create a pancit.  A pancit is like a stir fry, but more emphasis on the noodles, rather than the vegetables that they noodles are sauteed with.  Begin the pancit by taking a large bowl of warm water and placing 1 1/2 cups of rice noodles in the water.  Keep the noodles in the water for at least a half an hour, or until soft.  Drain the noodles in a colander.  Heat a large skillet over medium high heat with one tablespoon of dark sesame oil.  Once the skillet is hot, add the rice noodles, 1 cup thinly sliced iceberg lettuce, 1/3 cup shredded carrots, and 2 thinly sliced green onions.  Saute this mixture until everything is heated throughout and just softened, about 10 to 15 minutes.  Cover the skillet to keep warm and focus back on the pork.

Heat a grill to medium-high heat.  Remove the pork from the ziplock bag and discard the marinade.  Thread the pork evenly onto two to four skewers and sprinkle with salt.  Thread four mini bell peppers onto one or two skewers.  Once the grill is heated, arrange the skewers in a single layers on a grill rack. Grill three minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness (in our kitchen, meat has to be a cooked temperature to be done, in which case, pork is done at 150 degrees.)

Slice the mini bell peppers and pork cubes to manageable pieces.  Sprinkle with the cooked pancit and toss.  Serve and enjoy!

The End Result:

The pork had an intense flavor, mostly from sitting in a bath of soy sauce and garlic for an hour, but that's also what made the pork sparkle.  Added with the smokey flavor from the grill, these were little bites of tasty heaven.  But the real star of this recipe was the pancit.  It was neutral enough to calm down that stark flavor from the pork, but added a well-rounded balance that you wouldn't get from serving just the pork and peppers.  I believe that pancit could be the base for any Asian inspired dish, whether using the grill or not, add any meat or vegetable combination, and the pancit will highlight any flavors you throw into it.  Overall, a wonderfully inspired cuisine that is easy on any pallet.

Join us tomorrow as Tyler takes to the kitchen with a brand new recipe.  Until then,

~Cheers!

Grilled Quesadillas

Good evening everyone!  The thing about cooking I love is that it really gives a person ingenuity to create something original from a classic dish.  Throwing in a new method of how to cook a classic dish, however, is definitely unique.  Tonight, I am tackling a traditional Mexican dish and amping up the flavors by using a spicy dry rub and grilled vegetables to produce one delicious dish. 

The Recipe:  Grilled Chicken and Vegetable Quesadillas
Original Recipe Found In:  Cooking Light, May 2013

What You'll Need:
1 1/2 Teaspoons Paprika
1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 Teaspoon dried Oregano
1/2 Teaspoon ground Cumin
1/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/4 Teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper
2 (6 Ounce) boneless, skinless Chicken Breast halves
1 small Onion, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
1 small Orange Bell Pepper, cut into 1/2-inch thick wedges
3 Ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese
4 (6 inch) Flour Tortillas

To start, preheat a grill to medium high heat.  While the grill preheats, prepare the chicken:  in a small bowl, mix the paprika, garlic powder, oregano, cumin, salt, and pepper until throughly mixed.  Rub the mixture evenly over both sides of the chicken and let stand for 10 minutes, or until the mix has just began to settle into the meat.

Once the grill is heated, arrange the chicken, onion, and bell pepper on the grill rack.  Cook the vegetables until tender, about four minutes on each side.  Flipping the vegetables, especially the onion might be a bit tricky.  Since there are small layers inside the onion, those small pieces might fall through the grates of the grill.  But, if you use a wide enough metal spatula, those pieces will stay with the rest of the onion.  You will have to be careful with the bell pepper too, since it has very thin slices.  Using the same metal spatula, carefully flip it over and make sure it lands on the grates.  It's very important to keep these vegetables (mostly) whole as they play a very tasty part to the quesadilla.

Cook the chicken on each side until done, about eight minutes, or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees.  While the chicken is cooking, coarsely chop the vegetables and keep warm with aluminum foil.  Once the chicken is done cooking, transfer to a chopping board and let stand for five minutes.  During which, a skillet over medium high heat can be preheated.

On clean plates, prepare the flour tortillas:  lightly sprinkle one half of the tortilla with the shredded cheese.  Once the chicken has reached its five minutes, thinly slice the meat and divide evenly over the cheese half of the tortilla.  Divide evenly the vegetables also and fold the non-cheese half over the filling.

By now, the skillet should be warmed and ready to use.  Place two quesadillas in the skilled and cook until the cheese begins to melt and the tortillas are lightly browned, about four minutes.  Carefully, sprinkle another thin layer of cheese over the filling and flip the quesadillas over, cooking on this side for another four minutes.  Cut each quesadilla into two wedges, serve, and enjoy!

The End Result:

The flavors from the chicken are not only smoky from the grill, but have an intensely spicy notes.  The grilled orange pepper and onions are softened and bring another flavor realm to the quesadillas.  They do get quite tough to flip once on the grill, but if you can salvage the peppers and onions, it adds a nice depth.  Using the cheese only as a "glue" for the quesadillas (which was hard for me, considering I like cheese...a lot,) it cut down on the calorie intake, but having a hint of cheese flavor was a nice change of pace.  These quesadillas were under 350 calories, which is great when you want huge flavor from not a lot of ingredients.  

Come back tomorrow as I continue the grill theme, but completely change culinary styles.  Until then,

~Cheers!

Pork + Cylinder = Entertainment for All (Oh, and dinner)

Good evening everyone! Every now and again, I like to take on a recipe that's a little adventurous - a little out there if you will. Traditionally it's been a Jamie Oliver recipe or maybe something clever from an Alton Brown cookbook - so that gives you a good gauge of just how "adventurous" my adventurous has been on the blog so far. I do have one cookbook in my library that carries quite of bit of adventure, however, 'Guy Fieri Food' - by Guy Fieri of Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives.

Guy has quite an eccentric collection of recipes in his cookbook - a collection we were hereto unable to tap as most of them required a grill or centered around sushi/crab/lobster (yuck). Now, armed with our already well used grill, I'm equipped to tackle most of Guy's recipes, and tonight, I picked a very unique and adventurous one to get us started.

The Recipe: Summer Grilled Pork
Original Recipe From: Guy Fieri Food

What You'll Need:
(Serves 4)

4 X Boneless, Skinless Pork Chops (1 inch thick)
10 Thick Cut Slices Applewood Smoked Bacon
3 Tablespoons Cream Cheese (Light)
2 Tablespoons Panko Bread Crumbs
1 Red Bell Pepper (Diced)
1/4 Artichoke Hearts (Jarred, drained of liquid)
1/4 Cup Honey
1/4 Dijon Mustard
1/2 Cup Beer (IPA or Pilsner)

I found it was much easier to toss the artichoke hearts and bell pepper into a food processor and simply pulse until everything was evenly blended and combined. You can certainly chop by hand and mix the two ingredients if you choose, I simply went with the time saving method!

Begin by using a large meat tenderizer to pound the pork chops to 1/4 inch thickness. Season both sides  of all the chops with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Next, lay a large sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil on the countertop and place your strips of bacon vertically in the center of the sheet, overlapping each slice of bacon by 1/4 of an inch (see picture).

Next, lay the pork chops, horizontally across the bacon slices, making sure the chops don't overlap too much. Spread a thin layer of the cream cheese across the surface of each pork chop. Follow this with a helping of the red bell peppers and artichoke hearts, and top this layer with the panko bread crumbs.

Beginning with the edge that's closest to you, begin rolling the bacon/pork concoction in front of you into a cylinder. Try to keep the wrap as tight as possible, but make sure you're not bringing the aluminum foil with you as you roll (IE - don't wrap the foil with the food). Once you've created a tight roll (henceforth called the pork cylinder - because it makes me laugh), pull the foil around your pork cylinder and wrap it up tight.

Transfer the pork cylinder to a 350 degree grill and cook for 7 to 8 minutes per 'side' (rotating it four times). While your PC (pork cylinder) is cooking away, begin making the beer based sauce.

In a small saucepan, combine the mustard, honey and beer over medium high heat. Allow the mixture to simmer, stirring occasionally, until it reduces by about a third and thickens up. Set half of the sauce aside for serving, and reserve the other half for basting.

After your PC has cooked for about 30 minutes, remove the foil (carefully) and place the PC directly on the grill. (This is a huge scenario of 'easier said than done' - I recommend brining some toothpicks with you to skewer the PC - thus preventing it from flying open once the foil is off) Removing the foil will allow the bacon to crisp up (which it wasn't able to do inside the foil). At this time, you can apply the reserved sauce to each of the sides of the pork cylinder, effectively "basting" your pork.

Let the bacon cook up for 5 to 6 minutes per side and check the pork chops with an instant read thermometer to make sure they've hit 140 degrees. Let the PC rest for 5 minute prior to slicing it into 3/4 inch portions - serve and enjoy!

The Results:

My slices weren't as pretty as I had hoped, so you get the pre-sliced pic 

This was certainly a little culinary adventure. I've never paired cream cheese with pork before nor have I tried essentially "stuffing" something on the grill. While the roll itself was a bit tricky to "unfold" and cook directly on the grill (this may be attributed to overly vague instructions from the cookbook itself - there's little in the way of detailed step-by-steps in this cookbook) the process was fairly straightforward and not as daunting as it seemed on paper.

Even better, the recipe itself was a pleasant surprise. The artichoke, red pepper, cream cheese center provided a nice 'sweet-yet-spicy' counter to the rich flavor of the bacon wrapped pork. (Seriously, pork covered pork is one of the best culinary guilty pleasures we've found). What results is a great, smoky pork flavor with a bright - not too sweet, not too hot center. This recipes weighs in a little higher on the calorie side at 450 calories per serving, but for a nice summertime treat - it's worth it!

That's all we have for you this week. We're back again next week with two brand new recipes. Until then,

~Cheers

Beer Butt Chicken

Good evening everyone! Most at home chefs have one or two recipes that they've always wanted to try, but just have never gotten around to cooking. Maybe it's something daunting like beef bourguignon or beef wellington. Maybe it features an ingredient you're not comfortable with using. Or, maybe you just don't have the necessary tools to create the recipe properly.

For me, the latter is accurate. I have one recipe that I've wanted to make for three years. A dish that I have found multiple variants for, but have never had the tools to tackle. Tonight that ends - tonight, I'm making...

Beer butt chicken

Laugh all you want, but this delightfully simple premise of roasting chicken on a grill has always fascinated me. We're not ones to shy away from using alcohol in our cooking and the process of slow roasting a chicken while marinating it inside with a can of beer just seemed like such a brilliant way to develop a great flavored chicken. Alas, we didn't have a grill to treat this recipe properly. As we've documented over the past two weeks - we now HAVE a grill and we are using it. Tonight, I'm crossing off one of my dream recipes. Let's get cooking!

The Recipe: Beer Butt Chicken
Original Recipe From: Jamie's America

What You'll Need:
(Serves 4)

1 Large Whole Chicken (3.5 LBS and up)
1 Can of Pilsner Beer
1 Teaspoon Ground Fennel
1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
1 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika
1 Teaspoon Light Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Mild Chili Powder
Olive Oil

Begin by preheating your grill and cleaning the grates. Your manufacturer's recommendation may vary, but our grill maker (Weber) suggests brining the grill to 500 degrees prior to cooking.

In a medium bowl, combine all of the spices with about 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Whisk together until you've created a nice blend, then use this rub to cover the entire chicken - inside and out, making sure to fill every nook and cranny of the bird. If possible, try to work some of the rub under the skin of the chicken as well.

Next, open your beer and help yourself to half of the can. (Nice bonus right? Dinner AND drinks!). There's not delicate or proper way to describe this next part...so I'll just say it. Take the beer can and place it in the chicken's...rear cavity. Stick it in far enough that only the last 1/2 inch of the can or so is sticking out (it will appear like the chicken is 'sitting' on the can).

Comfy?

Cook the chicken using the two zone system of grilling, if you have multiple burners, leave one burner on, but set the chicken on the other side (over the burners that are off) if you're using charcoal, arrange the coals to one side of the grill and place the chicken on the opposite side. Just like in last week's chipotle orange chicken recipe, the indirect heat allows the chicken to slow roast, keeping all of the juices inside the bird.

Carefully rest your bird on the grill grates, making sure it wont tip over during cooking. Stick a few extra sprigs of thyme into the 'neck' of the chicken if you have them available, that will add a nice layer to the smoked flavor of the chicken.

Once everything is situated, close the lid of your grill and let the chicken roast for 70 to 90 minutes - or until the chicken is golden brown and the meat pulls away from the bone easily. Remove the chicken from the grill, carefully pull out the beer can, carve and enjoy!

The Results:

Note: Flavor does not translate through the monitor - do NOT lick your screen

This recipe was worth the wait. Slow roasted chicken, be it in the oven or on the grill, always packs great flavor. Slow roasting chicken that was marinated with the vapors of a light ale? Even better. The chicken was juicy, packed full of smokey -fresh off the grill - flavor and yet had a great undertone of a crisp light ale. DELICIOUS!

That's all we have for you this week. We're back next week with two brand new fresh and flavorful recipes. Until then,

~Cheers

Fresh Grilled Fish and Potatoes

Good evening everyone!  More often than not, most recipes that use a grill, add extras (like a heavy sauce or other ingredients) that pack on the calories and make this summer time method of cooking not too calorically appealing.  Tonight, I'm going to show you a recipe that will show you that having a great tasting grill recipe that adds all those extras, without all those extra calories.

The Recipe:  Bacon-Wrapped Tilapia with New Potatoes
Original Recipe Found In:  HyVee Seasons Magazine, Spring Issue

What You'll Need:
8 small New Potatoes, halved
8 Sprigs fresh Thyme
4 (6 ounces each) Tilapia Fillets
8 Slices sweet smoked Bacon
2 Teaspoons Canola Oil
1 Teaspoon Onion Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Paprika
1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper

To start, bring a grill up to temperature to medium-high heat.  Also, spray a grilling basket with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.  Next, over medium high heat, bring a pot of water of a boil.  Add the potatoes and boil for five to seven minutes, until they are cooked almost all the way through.  Drain the pot of potatoes through a colander and once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, pat them dry.

Next, prepare the fish:  wrap each fish with two slices of bacon, with two sprigs of thyme wrapped between the fish and the bacon.  Set these aside on a clean plate.  In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oil, onion salt, paprika, and black pepper until it is well combined.  Add the cooked potatoes and toss to coat.

In the grilling basket, arrange the fish and the potatoes and begin to cook.  Add the basket to the grill and cook for eight to ten minutes or until the bacon has browned.  Depending on what type of grilling basket you have, either flip the basket over or flip the fish and potatoes over and continue to cook for an additional eight to ten minutes, until the bacon is crisp and the potatoes are completely cooked through. Transfer onto plates, serve, and enjoy!

The End Result:

Tilapia is known for infusing any flavor it is cooked with, whether it's from seasonings or other foods.  Tonight is no exception:  the tilapia completely surrounds itself with a hearty, smokey flavor from the bacon.  But cooked from the grill makes the fish ever so tender and melts in your mouth with how flakey it tastes.  I, personally, love grilled potatoes - it doesn't matter how you grill them or with what seasonings, it just tastes good.  These potatoes are truly exceptional.  The slight additives of flavor from the onion salt, paprika, and black pepper is all you need to create fresh, flavorful grilled potatoes.  The best part about this dish?  A serving is only 280 calories - grilling light never tasted so good!

A couple of quick hints if you want to substitute any of the ingredients.  If you plan to use russet potatoes, instead of new potatoes, it's helpful to slice them up before boiling.  This will help cook the potatoes throughly before they hit the grill.  Also, if you want to use a thicker cut bacon, instead of a thinner version, the cook time will need to be adjusted.  It will take about 15 minutes per side.  The bacon will crisp up better, plus the flavor in the fish will be that much greater.

Thanks for joining us tonight.  Join us tomorrow as Tyler finally gets his hands on a recipe that he's been itching to try.  Until then,

~Cheers!

Fresh off the Grill: Chipotle Orange Chicken

Good evening everyone! As Maggie mentioned last night, we’ve been waiting for a full sized grill for a long time. While we have a small camp style stove, it wasn’t easy to use at our apartment complex and the logistics of driving to a park just to make supper were too frustrating to tackle. So, for three years, while we lived in our little apartment, we waited.

Now that we own our very own house, we CAN grill and you better believe this summer we WILL grill. Maggie debuted our newest ‘kitchen’ gadget last night, choosing to feature a whole new variety of ingredients on the blog. Tonight, I’m returning to the grill but cooking up a much more traditional dish. Let’s get cooking!

The Recipe: Chipotle Orange Chicken

Original Recipe From: The Complete America’s Test Kitchen Cookbook

What You’ll Need:

(Serves 2-4)

2 to 4 Large, Bone In, Skin On Chicken Breasts
2/3 Cup Juice Plus 1 Teaspoon Grated Zest From 1-2 Large Oranges
1 Small Shallot (Minced)
1-2 Tablespoons Chipotle in Adobo Sauce*
2 Teaspoons Fresh Thyme Leaves (Minced)
1 Tablespoon Light Molasses
¼ Teaspoon Cornstarch

* You can find a few variants of chipotle in adobo sauce at your local grocery store. Some sauces have the chilies already minced in the sauce while other versions will have the entire chili. The minced version will be significantly hotter simply because you cannot avoid the chili. We had the version with the whole chili in the sauce. I’d encourage you to either mince or discard the whole chili in this sauce – otherwise your final dish (for whatever you use it for) will be VERY hot. I opted to leave the whole chili in while preparing the glaze, but I will not be serving the chili with the final dish.

Begin preparing the glaze by combining the shallots, orange juice, orange zest, thyme, chipotle sauce, molasses and cornstarch in a small sauce pan. Set the pan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a simmer, whisking constantly until the sauce thickens and reduces slightly. This should take about 5 minutes. Once the sauce is thickened, remove it from the heat and set it aside. You can prepare this sauce one to two days ahead of time if you’re pressed for time.

Bring your grill up to temperature and thoroughly clean the grate. If you have a two burner gas grill, leave one burner off while setting the other to medium heat. If you’re using a charcoal grill, set up a two zone system by arranging the coals on one half of the grill. This two zone grill system allows you to cook your food via indirect heat – which prevents the meat from drying out. This works by removing the direct heat from the cooking equation. Direct heat causes the proteins in the meat to shrivel up and squeeze all of the moisture from the meat. Indirect heat, meanwhile, allows the meat to warm up slowly – much like slow roasting a turkey in the oven. By using the direct heat as radiant heat, you can get great grill flavors without drying out the meat.

The downside to indirect heat cooking is the same downside as roasting anything in the oven – a crisp outer crust is near impossible to achieve. When you want a crispy exterior and you need to use the oven, you typically pan fry that item for a few minutes on each side. With the grill it’s no different.

Place the chicken breasts on the direct heat side of the grill for 6 to 8 minutes per side, or until the exterior is golden brown and grill marks appear on the meat. Next, lay a piece of aluminum foil over the grates that are serving as your indirect cooking zone (caution: just because the heat is off on ½ of the grill – that does NOT mean the grates are cool – use tongs to lay the foil in place). Transfer the chicken to the cooler side of the grill with the thicker portion of the breasts facing down towards the heat. Cover the chicken with a second sheet of aluminum foil (loosely tent it over the breasts) and close the grill. Allow the chicken to cook until the thickest of each breast registers 150 degrees on an instant read thermometer. This should take about 15 to 25 minutes.

Once your chicken reaches 150 degrees, you can begin applying the glaze equally to each side both on and below the skin (apply as much or as little of the glaze as you’d like). Transfer each breast back to the ‘hot’ side of the grill and allow the glaze fully cook into the breast this should take about 5 minutes. When the chicken is a nice golden brown (the glaze should be a deep, rich color) flip the breast and cook the other side for 3 to 5 minutes longer.  Check the thickest part of each breast with an instant read thermometer, once it reads 165 degrees, you’re ready to serve and enjoy! If you chicken isn’t quite up to temperature, move it back to the foil covered indirect heat zone and allow it to cook until it reaches 165 degrees.

The Results:

It was a cold, rainy (and occasionally snowy) day here in Iowa, but this recipe still made it feel like summertime despite the fact I was wearing a coat and using the grill as warmth when I checked on the food! Chicken breasts cooked on the grill carry this great, powerful flavor naturally. Grilling allows the moisture of the meat to stay within the breast and the smoky heat from the fire really penetrates the whole dish. The chipotle and orange glaze ends up taking on a flavor similar to a barbeque sauce – with subtle hints of sweet orange and an undertone of heat from the chipotle sauce.

This dish is simple, relatively quick and only registers at about 250 calories. Factor in the bonus of getting to grill and enjoy the outdoors while you’re cooking (even if it’s only 40 degrees and rainy) and you’ve got a dish that can’t lose!

That’s all we have for you this week. We’re back next week with two more brand new grilling recipes. Until then,

~Cheers

New Appliances, New Ingredients, Same Adventurous Spirit

Good evening everyone!

Before I turn the keyboard over to Maggie for her dish tonight, I'd like to share why we were absent over the past week.

We received word on Thursday, April 4th, that my grandmother was having some pain issues and was taken to the hospital.  By Friday, "pain issues" had been diagnosed as cancer of the kidneys (among other areas) and by Friday evening, my grandmother was moved to a Hospice facility.  We spent Friday and Saturday with her and almost every member of our entire family (20+ member strong.)  Grandma was fooling the nurses; who would look at the chart, look at her sitting in the chair in good spirits, sharing stories and cracking jokes, and they would wonder...is this the right chart?  We had two great days filled with stories, laughter, and lots of love.

By Sunday, the illnesses she was battling began to show themselves.  By Tuesday morning, she was gone.

My grandmother was an amazing woman of compassion, faith, and conviction.  She never has a cross word for anyone, and didn't have an enemy in the world.  I was fortunate enough to know her for 25 years of my life.  For that I will always be thankful.  She taught me many things, courage, following what you love, and never giving up.

That spark to follow what you love - to pursue your passion - is evident in the pages of this blog.  We love to cook, we love to write.  Out of those passions, this large portion of our lives was born.  For that reason, I dedicate this blog (not just tonight's post - but the entire concept of this blog) to my grandmother's memory.

I realize a large portion of our audience has never met my grandma and really could care less about how great of a lady she was.  I don't care.  This blog is my voice, and tonight, a portion of that voice is going out in tribute to a wonderful lady.

Love you always and forever Grandma.

- Tyler

I mirror what Tyler said - she was a great woman to know and someone to reflect your life upon.  Such a wonderful tribute to a wonderful lady, thank you Tyler.  Since Tyler has eagerly awaited the grilling season to arrive, I thought he would be the first one to blog about it, but it looks I am the first one to delve into the grill realm.  Not only am I grilling for the first time, I am also using two other ingredients that I have never used before: it's a bunch of firsts for the blog tonight!  If you want something completely unique, this the recipe for you:

The Recipe:  Coriander-Spiced Lamb Kebabs with Simple Lemon Yogurt Sauce and Pita Bread
Original Recipe Found In:  Relish Magazine, May 2013

What You'll Need:

For the Lamb Kebabs:
1 1/2 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Red Wine Vinegar
1 Large Garlic clove, minced
1 Teaspoon ground Cumin
1 Teaspoon ground Coriander
1/4 Teaspoon Cayenne
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 Pounds Lamb shoulder chops, trimmed, boned, cut into 1 inch pieces

For the Simple Lemon Yogurt Sauce:
1 Cup plain Greek Yogurt
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf Parsley
1 Garlic clove, crushed
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1/2 Teaspoon finely grated Lemon Rind
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, cumin, coriander, cayenne, and salt, until everything is well mixed.  Add the lamb pieces and toss evenly to coat.  Let the pieces marinate up to two hours.

It might not look it, but the lamb is being prepared for one powerful, flavor punch

While the lamb marinates, you can prepare the yogurt sauce:  in another small mixing bowl, add the Greek yogurt, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, grated lemon rind, salt, and pepper.  Whisk all these ingredients until throughly blended.  You can keep this bowl out or place the bowl in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve, depending on how long you marinate the lamb.

Also while the lamb marinates, prepare the grill to begin the cooking process.  Depending on the size of your grill, the time will depend on how long to preheat it for.  Once it maintains a steady 400 degree temperature, it is ready to cook.  After the grill is ready to use, pierce the pieces of lamb with metal skewers, keeping a small gap between the pieces of meat.  Place the skewers on a kebab holding plate and grill them for 12 minutes, rotating every three minutes to maintain a charred brown color and is no longer pink in the middle.

Lamb, ready to be grilled!

On a plate, slice open a pita bread pocket, to reveal two halves.  Spread the yogurt sauce in the pocket and layer the lamb inside.  Serve and enjoy!

The End Result:

The only lamb I've ever had has been in gyros, but this dish could be a very close second to one of my favorite dishes.  The lamb was cooked perfectly and was very moist.  The selection of spices gave it a good amount of heat, but not completely overwhelming.  The yogurt sauce helps cool down the heat and adds another flavor dimension to this dish.  If you like lemon flavor, the sauce is definitely for you. The pita pockets are perfect little capsules to hold the dish together and is a great even base for the spicy lamb and tangy sauce.  Overall, a great grilled dish, if you're feeling adventurous with your pallet.  

Tyler takes to the grill tomorrow night and tries his hand at an intensely flavored chicken.  Until then,

~Cheers!

Good Grinds Yield Great Meatloaf

Good evening everyone! We’ve addressed the misconceptions that follow meatloaf previously on the blog, we’ve talked about, when done correctly, how meatloaf can be quite the culinary delight. We’re all on the same page here then, right? Meatloaf = good. If note, take a look HERE and revisit our last meatloaf foray.

I’ll wait.

Are we all square? Okay! Tonight we’re returning to meatloaf, not because I feel like the last iteration needs to be improved upon, but simply because it’s been a while since we’ve cooked up meatloaf. Plus,  we discovered a new recipe last weekend that just begged to be tested out. So, let’s get cooking!

The Recipe: Good Eats meatloaf

Original Recipe From: “Good Eats: A Grind is a Terrible Thing to Waste”

What You’ll Need:

8-12 Ounces Chuck Roast (Ground)*

8-12 Ounces Sirloin (Ground)*

6 Ounces Garlic Croutons

1 Teaspoon Chili Powder

1 Teaspoon Dried Thyme

½ Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

½ Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

½ Yellow Onion (Chopped)

1 Carrot (Peeled, chopped)

3 Garlic Cloves

½ Red Bell Pepper

1 Egg

For the glaze:

½ Cup Ketchup

1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin

Dash Worcestershire Sauce

Dash Hot Sauce

1 Tablespoon honey

* Don’t worry if you cannot find ground sirloin or ground chuck – in fact, the whole premise of this episode of Good Eats is that you shouldn’t buy the pre-ground meats. Instead, look simply for whole chuck steaks or roast and a whole sirloin steak and grind it yourself.

(Yes, it matters that the two meats are chuck and sirloin. You need a high quality meat if you want a high quality finished product – thus the sirloin – but you also need fat for moisture. Sirloin is lean, but chuck roast is higher quality, but contains about 30% fat per pound. That’s the secret to keeping your roast flavorful but not dry.)

I know what you’re thinking, “I don’t have a grinder!” or “I’m not taking the time to grind all of that meat!” Well, fear not dear reader, because those worries are both erroneous. You don’t need a fancy grinder; all you need is a food processor, which, if you do much cooking at all, you likely already have. As far as time, do you have 20 seconds? Because that’s about how long it takes to grind each cut of meat.

More on the grinding later. First, set your oven to 325 degrees and place the oven rack in the center slot.

In a food processor bowl, combine the croutons, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder and thyme. Pulse this mixture until everything is ground to a fine texture. Transfer this mixture to a large bowl and set aside.

Next, combine the onion, carrot, garlic and red pepper in a food processor (you can even use the same bowl) and pulse until the contents are diced. Don’t over pulse to the point that the mixture becomes a puree, however. Transfer this mixture to the same large bowl that you placed the dry mixture in earlier.

Now, turn your attention to grinding the meat. Begin by chopping your steaks into 1 inch cubes. Next, add the meat to a large food processor (you may have to work in smaller sections, don’t overload the bowl) and pulse, 10 times, in one second bursts. By the 10^th pulse, you should have a nicely ground cut of meat. Transfer the completed grind to the large bowl with the other ingredients and repeat this process until all of the meat has been ground.

Crack your egg into the large bowl with all the ingredients and then begin mixture the contents by hand. Carefully turn or fold the ingredients until everything is evenly incorporated. Try to avoid grabbing, crushing or balling the meat here, you want the herbs and other ingredients to mix evenly throughout the meat, and clumping the meat up into balls here will prevent that even distribution.

Once everything is mixed, grab your loaf pan. Don’t worry about spraying it with cooking oil or otherwise prepping it for the oven – it’s not going in the oven. See, while a loaf pan is great for giving a meatloaf its shape, it allows the fat from the meat to simply sit and stew on the bottom of the pan. We don’t want that – so we don’t want to cook in the pan.

Press the meat mixture into the pan, now you can compact the meat – in fact, it’s important that you do. If you don’t compress the meat here, when you go to slice the loaf after cooking, it will simply fall apart (I’m speaking from experience here!) Once all of the meat is in your loaf pan and nicely compacted, you can prep your cooking surface by laying a piece of parchment paper on top of a rimmed baking sheet.

Turn the loaf pan over on the parchment paper and give the pan a solid tap. The loaf should drop out easily, leaving you with a beautiful loaf shape standing free on the baking sheet.

Pop the loaf into the oven for 10 minutes. During this time, you can begin working on your glaze. In a small bowl, add all of the glaze ingredients and stir until completely combined. Set this mixture aside until the first 10 minutes of cooking have passed.

After 10 minutes, remove the meatloaf from the oven and brush the glaze over the top and sides until the loaf is completely covered. By letting the loaf cook for 10 minutes, you’re allowing the outside of the meatloaf to form a nice crust, which gives some great texture to the finished loaf. Return the loaf to the oven and allow it to roast until the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees. This can take anywhere between 45 to 90 minutes (depending on the density of your loaf).

Once your loaf reaches 155 degrees, remove it from the oven and allow it to rest for 10 minutes prior to serving. Slice and serve with a side of veggies or on a lightly toasted bun for a meatloaf sandwich. Enjoy!

The Results:

The entire point of the recipe is to show that final dish quality comes right down to which cuts of meat you choose. Simply using ground hamburger for your meatloaf isn’t doing it justice. Premium flavors come from grinding your own blend of chuck and sirloin.

Point proven! This meatloaf is simply delectable, juicy, savory and full of great flavors. The glaze is a welcome departure from most meatloaf glazes – the honey allows the glaze to crust up nicely while the ketchup hot sauce blend keeps the glaze from being overly sweet or overly spicy.

This dish clocks in a little higher on the caloric scale – around 300 calories per slice of meatloaf, but you’ll get about 8 to 12 servings out of it, so it can feed a whole family for a few days or a family of two for an entire week.

That’s all we have for you this week. Next week, we’ve breaking into new territory – a mode of cooking that we’ve previously been unable to harness. Stop in next week for brand new recipes and more culinary adventures. Until then,

~Cheers

Flavorful Springtime Soup

Good evening everyone!  Spring has (finally) arrived in the Des Moines metro and I think all residents can breath a sigh of relief.  Although the trees haven't budded and the grass hasn't turned green, warmer temperatures and stable weather has brought a calm to an usually rough winter.  With spring making a triumphant entrance, the return of spring ingredients has also arrived.  Tonight, I'm making the perfect springtime soup, filled with fresh flavors that are light to the pallet and the stomach too.

The Recipe:  Lemony Chicken and Orzo Soup
Original Recipe Found In: Bon Appetite Magazine, April 2013

What You'll Need:
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 medium Leek, white and pale-green parts only, halved lengthwise, sliced crosswise 1/2 inch thick
1 Celery stalk, sliced crosswise 1/2 inch thick
12 Ounces boneless, skinless Chicken Thighs
6 Cups low-sodium Chicken Broth
1/2 Cup Orzo
1/4 Cup chopped fresh Dill
Lemon halves (for serving)

To start, heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat.  Add the leak and celery and cook until softened and stirring often, about five to eight minutes.  Add the chicken and the broth to the pot, season with salt and pepper.  Bring the contents of the pot to a boil.  Once at a boil, reduce the heat to simmer and cover with a lid.  Simmer until the chicken is cooked completely through, about 15 to 20 minutes or, with a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.  Transfer the chicken to a clean plate.  Let the chicken cool and shred into bite size pieces.

Meanwhile, return the broth in the pot to a boil.  Add the orzo and cook according to package directions or until al dente, about eight to ten minutes.  Once the orzo is done cooking, immediately remove the pot from the heat.  Stir the chicken back in and add the dill.  If you are using dried dill (in which you'll need a tablespoon of dried spice,) you may find you'll only need half of a tablespoon.  Of course, you can add more, if you want more dill flavor to your soup.  Serve, with the lemon halves to squeeze over the soup, and enjoy!

The End Result:

This might be the best and quintessential spring inspired soup.  All the ingredients are incredibly light, but they all work together harmoniously to give the soup a well rounded flavor.  The leeks and celery cook down, so as to not overpower with a vegetable flavor.  The chicken, infused with the broth, doesn't have a strong poultry flavor.  Also, the dill, surprisingly, won't hit your tastebuds with an herby punch.  The lemon might be the only ingredient that shines on its own in the soup.  While I preferred a hint of lemon in my soup, Tyler was squeezing the lemon dry and he loved it in his dish.  I would definitely recommend using the lemon at your discretion:  try the soup, if you want more flavor, add the lemon; if you enjoy that lemon flavor, add more until your hearts content.  Overall, a great soup that is perfect for any springtime evening.

That's all we have for you tonight.  Join us Thursday as Tyler cooks up a family favorite dish, but this recipe will be immediately added to your recipe book.  Until then,

~Cheers!