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A Life You Adore Around A Table You Love.

Archives for May 2011

Bikini season burger.

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That time is upon us – the pool is OPEN for summer! Bbq’s and parties fill up the weekends quickly and pretty soon you’ve lost track of just exactly how many burgers and brats you’ve consumed…Whoops!

Well, fear not – here’s a burger worthy of entertaining and it will help (not hinder) the figure! This became one of my ‘go to’ burger recipes 2 summers ago and it has stayed with us. Think of it as a fresh cobb salad, but burger format! I absolutely love creative burgers – I think they are a fun way to change up the (sometimes) repetitive nature of the typical bbq options. And I’ve found that my guests agree.

So grab a nice chilled glass of sauvignon blanc, get these on the grill, and know that a meal that won’t weigh you down is cooking away.

Chicken Cobb Burgers
Serves 4
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Burger Ingredients
  1. 1.5 pounds ground white chicken
  2. grill seasoning
  3. 2 green onions, thinly sliced
  4. 1 large glove garlic, minced
  5. olive oil
  6. 4 strips thick market style bacon
  7. blue cheese, enough for topping 4 burgers
  8. 4 thick slices vine ripened tomatoes
  9. 1 avocado, diced
  10. lettuce
  11. vinaigrette (ingredients below)
  12. 4 buns
Vinaigrette Ingredients
  1. 2 TBS red wine vinegar
  2. 1 TBS freshly squeezed lemon juice
  3. 1 tsp grainy mustard
  4. 1 tsp worchestershire sauce
  5. 1 clove garlic, minced
  6. 1/4 tsp sugar
  7. 1/4 tsp salt
  8. 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  9. 3 TBS olive oil
Instructions
  1. Preheat grill to medium high heat.
  2. Combine chicken, grill seasoning, green onions and garlic together. Form 4 patties and drizzle with olive oil. Along with the bacon, cook burgers on the grill. The bacon will take roughly 3 minutes per side, the burgers 5 minutes per side. On the last minute the burgers are cooking, add the blue cheese to melt.
  3. Whisk together ingredients to make the vinaigrette. Dress lettuce with some of the vinaigrette.
  4. On a large platter plate tomatoes, avocado, lettuce, and bacon. Drizzle remaining vinaigrette over all of the toppings.
  5. Let your guests build their own cobb burger to their specifications.
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

MUCH more interesting than a brat, right?
C

Farm potatoes.

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Farm Potatoes

Well, we’re back from the farm! L and I went on a little adventure to nana and papa’s farm in Ohio for nana’s 90th birthday! (The brown bag apple pie smelling temptingly good from the trunk – it made it in one piece though). We had a BLAST there. I had been before, but had stayed at the hotel near the interstate so was never able to truly appreciate it all for what it was. This time was different.

If your family is anything like my family, and M’s family for that matter, big celebrations revolve around food, so I thought it was more than applicable to write about my adventure. The day seemed to be about plan the meal, make the meal, clean up the meal and repeat. I think I had barely finished my cup of coffee when I began chopping vegetables on nana’s butcher block for lunch – and I loved it! With guests dropping by from far away places you never really knew who was going to need to eat what when, so we had to be prepared.

My favorite quote from the trip had to be from Aunt Jan. We had spent Friday morning on breakfast, then lunch and then we were off to nana’s tea from 3-5. It was beautiful – both Ginger and Jan worked so hard on it! And the food (in abundant amounts of course) was amazing. I’m still thinking about the little tea sandwiches with asparagus and herbed cream cheese. Needless to say none of us were even remotely hungry yet as it was wrapping up I hear Aunt Jan on the phone in a very urgent tone ‘make SURE you preheat the oven for the homemade blue cheese and walnut crackers that need to bake for cocktail hour.’ There was literally no more room in my stomach!

Aunt Jan also inspired the potato recipe listed in this post. I can’t recall the exact recipe she had shown me – so, I kind of went with it and ended up with an amazing side dish. Panko crumbs on roasted herbed potatoes – gives it that perfect little crunch, who knew?

So enjoy the potatoes if you make them and some of my favorite snap shots from the farm – the beautiful scenery, the dinner bell, tea time, L’s much needed nap with papa, coloring on the side porch, and more.

Farm Potatoes
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Ingredients
  1. yukon gold potatoes, cut into chunks
  2. heaping TBS of dijon or grainy mustard
  3. TBS of freshly chopped rosemary
  4. salt & pepper
  5. good drizzle of olive oil
  6. 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Toss all of the above together aside from the breadcrumbs. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes, toss potatoes with panko bread crumbs, and then roast for an additional 10 - 15 minutes.
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

Happy 90th Nana!


P.S. With 6 trips scheduled over the next few months I’ve created a ‘travel’ area on the right hand side. Stay tuned for pictures, recipes, and inspiration from across the country!

Monday morning muffins.

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So, we started with ‘Sunday Morning Muffins’ and since then I’ve been working on perfecting their successor for quite some time. M always requests chocolate chip muffins and I just kept pushing the blueberry muffins or the banana crunch muffins. I had perfect recipes for those and in my mind they were just a better choice for breakfast.

But then you have those mornings when a chocolate chip muffin is exactly what is needed. They typically fall on a Monday, I’ve noticed. I like to think of myself as a very effective person but today at work it literally took me almost 3 hours to order carpet. And water. And I was working on it hard the whole time! No joke.

Soooo…times like these call for a muffin that hey, probably isn’t exactly best for the waistline but you’re so cranky that’s the last thing on your mind. Refrain from making these a Tuesday – Sunday muffin routine as well and you’ll be just fine. And a bit happier.

Chocolate Chip Muffins
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Ingredients
  1. 1 1/2 cups flour
  2. 1/3 cup sugar
  3. 1/4 cup brown sugar
  4. 1/2 tsp baking powder
  5. 1/2 tsp baking soda
  6. 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  7. 1/2 tsp salt
  8. 2 eggs, room temp
  9. 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
  10. 1/2 cup milk
  11. 1 tsp vanilla
  12. 1 cup chocolate chip
Instructions
  1. Preheat over to 375. Grease a muffin pan or line with muffin cup papers.
  2. Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl (flour, sugars, powder, soda, cinnamon, and salt). Add in chocolate chips and mix well.
  3. In a separate bowl beat eggs, add in butter, milk, and vanilla.
  4. Slowly combine the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined, you don't want tough muffins.
  5. Fill cups 2/3 of the way fill and bake for 20 minutes, until lightly browned.
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

Let’s hope, for my company’s sake, that tomorrow morning is a bit more productive.
Courtney

Pink task/Blue task.

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baked chicken in tomato sauce

Our good friends Catherine and Jeff have coined quite a genius saying. After hanging out with them a bit I’d hear one of them throw out ‘oh, that’s a blue task I don’t have to do that’ or vice versa. Blue meaning ‘boy’ task of course. It made perfect sense and what a clever way to clearly divide the never ending chores that pop up around the home.

Every couple is completely different of course, but I’ve found our ‘pink task/blue task’ list to be quite traditional. I sometimes wonder if I was born in the wrong era…? I do have a slightly modern side as I enjoy my office time and that, in the utmost traditional sense, is considered a ‘blue task’ but aside from that I pretty much line up with every traditional pink task in the book.

These tasks become clearer when M travels. As he was in Utah most of the week a good part of my Friday was devoted to making sure things were in line when he returned home late at night. His dry cleaning was picked up, house was cleaned, laundry was folded, his favorite beer (Matilda) was chilling in the fridge, a homemade dinner was on the stove, and his favorite peanut butter cookies were in the cookie jar – still slightly warm.

Sound too nice? Well, the blue task list has all ready formed. There is currently a shoe (ok YOUR shoe, M) in the kitchen with a ridiculously large dead spider squished under it. It’s been there since Wednesday. Please clean that up. Also this delicious meal that was prepared? I pretty much did that in the dark. Please change the three light bulbs that are out in the kitchen. My car is a mess and the lawn needs to be mowed and the list goes on and on…

In terms of the actual recipe portion of this post I’d like to introduce you to your new best friend: baked chicken in tomato sauce. It’s SUPER easy – only 6 ingredients, count them, SIX! (I don’t count salt, pepper, and olive oil as ingredients). Another great part is that it tastes great at 6:00 (when I ate it) or 10:30 (when M will eat it). It can just hang out on the stove and be ready to go exactly when you are. Ah, another blue task. I kid.

Baked Chicken in Tomato Sauce
Serves 4
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Ingredients
  1. olive oil
  2. 4 pieces of bone in chicken breasts
  3. 1 large onion, minced
  4. 3 large cloves of garlic, minced
  5. 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
  6. handful of freshly chopped basil
  7. 6 good chunks of fresh mozzarella
  8. salt & pepper
Instructions
  1. Heat a few TBS of olive oil over medium high heat in a dutch oven.
  2. Season both sides of chicken with salt & pepper. Brown chicken pieces about 3 minutes per side and remove from pot.
  3. Lower heat, add in a bit more olive oil and saute onion for a few minutes. Add in garlic. Saute for about 30 seconds. Stir in diced tomatoes. Simmer sauce for 15 minutes. Stir in mozzarella chunks and basil. Add chicken back in, submerge in the sauce, and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
  4. Serve over noodles or with a roll and a simple side salad. It's a relaxed recipe - don't make it fussy.
Adapted from DinnerALoveStory
Adapted from DinnerALoveStory
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

I’d so clean up a dead spider if I came home to this meal.
Courtney

Hello…spring? Are you there?

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Like vintage Chicago, we went from dreary and 40’s to sticky and 90’s – yes, my car said 91 at times over the past few days. From sweaters and boots to running around in the sprinklers barefoot and covered in dirt. Ah, apparently summer has arrived – or is it a cruel joke?

Either way if you’re anything like me these drastic changes in temperatures take a toll on your appetite. I go from eating every few hours to realizing it’s 3:00 and I hadn’t eaten a thing. Not good. When it gets this hot I’m just not hungry. I suppose it would help things if inside my house wasn’t matching the temperature outside but I REFUSE to go from heat to air conditioning, so, sweat it out baby and let’s find a summer meal to eat.

Lucky for me my sister is coming over for dinner so I can make something girly and light. It didn’t even appeal for me to fire up the grill so I’m going to roast delicious nicoise salmon ahead of time and serve it chilled along with a ‘raw’ salad courtesy of Frank’s Karma Cafe in Wauconda. If you haven’t been, GO! Soon. Today my friend Lindsay went and picked up a variety of treats, including my raw salad with a champagne vinaigrette (thank YOU!) and homemade cantaloupe lemonade – how summery and refreshing does that sound? Just one sip hit the spot.

But let’s get back on track – I was distracted by Frank’s Cafe. Ok, the nicoise salmon. I LOVE it in the summer as you can make it ahead of time and serve it right out of the fridge so it’s chilled on a sticky hot day. The prep is easy and the marinade is full of bright yellow lemon zest and grainy mustard. It needs nothing but a light salad on the side and a perhaps an ice cold gin and tonic with a fresh lime. Ahhh. Cheers to sun dresses, barefeet, and 80 degrees!

Roasted Salmon Nicoise
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Ingredients
  1. 2 lemons, juice & zest
  2. 1/4 cup olive oil
  3. 1/4 cup dijon or grainy mustard
  4. 2 garlic cloves, minced
  5. 1 tsp kosher salt
  6. 1/2 tsp pepper
  7. 4, 6 ounce salmon filets - skin on
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
  2. Whisk together above ingredients to make the marinade. Line a baking sheet with foil, place salmon skin side down and pour over marinade. Let sit for 15 minutes.
  3. Roast salmon in the oven for 12 - 15 minutes. Take out and let rest for 15 minutes. Place in the fridge to chill.
Adapted from Ina Garten
Adapted from Ina Garten
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

I cleaned my plate!
Courtney

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