ON THE MENU MONDAY~ Week Of July 11, 2011

Welcome to ON THE MENU MONDAY!

I had a very magical visitor last week. The FAIRY HOBMOTHER came to my blog and , bippity-boppity-boo, granted my wish! 

And what is a Fairy Hobmother? Oh, only the COOLEST granter of wishes and in all of  bloggland! A fairy, of sorts, from APPLIANCES ONLINE who flits through the bloggisphere  granting Amazon wishes to those bloggers who believe! Yes, I  believed and even clapped my hands (although I think that only works to keep pixies alive), and sure enough a magical spell was cast over my e-mail account and an Amazon gift card appeared! I have been wishing for a couple of new decorating books, a new lamp and a great set of Napoleon Bee glassware.  Hmmmm, what to choose!

Now how do you get the generous Fairy Hobmother to grant your wishes? That's  the easy part! My visit  from her came because of a comment I left at HAPPIER THAN A PIG IN MUD.

Leave a comment about the Fairy Hobmother on this post and she is sure to see, sprinkle her fairy dust and visit at least one lucky reader! 

By the way, don't be alarmed if your Fairy Hobmother has a name like Dave, or Ian... it just part of her charm!

Monday

Pesto Grilled Shrimp On Skewers
Grilled Vegetables

Recipe: Pesto Grilled Shrimp On Skewers
2 lbs large peeled and deveined shrimp, tails on
1/2 cup pesto, recipe follows

Put shrimp into a bag with pesto and marinade for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile soak skewers in cold water.  Put shrimp on skewers.

Preheat grill to medium high. Put skewers on grill and cook shrimp for 2-3 minutes each side. DO NOT OVERCOOK.

Recipe: StoneGable Pesto
If you grow basil, this is the perfect way to use it in summer cooking! Click HERE  to see one of my very first posts and for a recipe and how-to!

Recipe: Grilled Vegetable With Balsamic Dressing
Use any combo of veggies, and as many as you need. These are the ones I serve together on a large platter.
Eggplants, partially peeled and cut into a generous 1/4" round
Zucchinis, cut into generous 1/4" rounds
Yellow Squash, cut into generous 1/4" rounds
Onions, cut into 1/4" rounds
Peppers, cored and sliced in 1" thicknesses. Any color but green
Portabella mushrooms, cored and "gills" scraped off with the side of a spoon- keep whole
Lots of olive oil
Salt and pepper
Balsamic Marinade~ NO CHEATING! Make your own! Recipe follows

Preheat grill to medium heat.

Line a large rimmed baking sheet with paper towels. Salt eggplant generously. Place eggplant in single layers on the paper towel. Cover with another paper towel. Add another layer of eggplant. Continue to do this 4 layers high. Put a heavy pot on top of the eggplant. Set aside for 20-30 minutes. The salt will draw out bitter liquids in the eggplant, yellow squash and zucchini making them grill better. So do the same for the squash and zucchini.

Put a skewer through onion slices. Starting at the outside layer of the onion towards the center, catching all layers. Cut off any exposed skewer. Do this for all the onion slices. Put onions on a large rimmed sheet pan. Drizzle oil to coat and salt onions.

Put sliced peppers on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with oil to coat and salt.

Put mushrooms on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with oil to coat and salt.
While the eggplant and zucchini are set aside, Grill the onions, peppers and mushroom until nicely chared and cooked until tender.

Remove to a large platter. Remove skewers from onions. I arrange the veggies in attractive groups on the platter.
When eggplant and zucchini have sweated enough. Remove paper towel and wipe off excess salt. Drizzle olive oil to coat and grill until charred and soft. Remove to platter with other veggies.

StoneGable Dressing/Marinade
2/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves, pressed or chopped finely
2 tsp mustard
juice of 1 lemon
1 TBS Worchestershire sauce
pinch of salt and pepper
1/2 cup fresh basil, chiffonades

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
Drizzle roasted vegetables with marinade. Serve and wait for the raves!!!!!
Printable Recipe

Tuesday
Delmonico Chuck Steaks On The Grill
Black Bean And Corn Salad
Grilled Asparagus

Recipe: Black Bean And Corn Salad
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can white shoepeg corn, drained~ if corn is in season use fresh~ 4 ears, cooked and kernels taken off th    cob
1 red or yellow pepper, diced
dressing, follows

Mix all together and refrigerate. Should be made ahead for the flavors to marry.

Dressing:
3 TBS vegetable oil
1 TBS balsamic vinegar
3 TBS orange juice
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 clove garlic, pressed
salt and pepper

Mix dressing together and let sit for 1 hour before pouring over salad.
Printable Recipe

Wednesday
Italian Mac And Cheese
Caprese Salad

Recipe: Italian Mac And Cheese
This will be a real crowd pleaser! I am making this ahead so all I will have to do is pop it into the oven and enjoy my company! This great recipe comes from a friendly blog that is new to me, The Arizona Russums.
Click HERE for a comfort food Italian style!

Recipe: Caprese Salad
1 lb fresh mozzarella
good tomatoes (If you can't get locally grown tomatoes in your area, use roma tomatoes)
basil
good olive oil
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Slice fresh mozzarella and tomatoes. Alternate them, slightly overlapping, them on a plate. Salt and pepper. Cut basil into chiffonades. Sprinkle liberally over salad. Drizzle with good olive oil.
Printable Recipe

Thursday
Roast Chicken
Roasted Potatoes And Carrots

Recipe: Roast Chicken
Even though the temperature is soaring, I still roast chickens. I make at least 2 at a time and have lots of great chicken for leftovers! This recipe is Ina Garten meets StoneGable. This recipe is also good make ahead and sliced to feed a crowd! Click HERE for recipe and how-to's.

Friday: Slow Cooker Day
Slow Cooker Beef Fajitas
StoneGable Martini Glass Salad

Recipe: Slow Cooker Fajitas
3/4 cup prepared chunky style salsa
1 TBS tomato paste
3TBS jalapeno pepper jelly, I use sweet, do not use green colored jam!
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Juice of 2 limes, divided
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 lb. flank steak
2 large onions, peeled , cut in half and sliced into half moons
3 red bell peppers (or mixed color)

Flour Tortillas
Refried beans, heated
cheese
sour cream
guacamole
other toppings

Combine salsa, tomato paste, jalapeno pepper jelly, garlic cloves, juice of 1 lime, salt and pepper in a bowl.
Put flank steak in slow cooker and cover with liquid mixture. Gently lift the flank steak up to make sure all sides and bottom are coated.
Lay onions and peppers on top of steak.
Cover and cook on low setting for 6-8 hours.
Take meat out of slow cooker and cover with foil to rest for 10 minutes.  Cut across the grain in 1/2  inch thicknesses. Sprinkle juice from reserved lime on top of steak.

To Serve:
Place a couple strips of flank steak on a flour tortilla, add onions and peppers and some to the juice.
Top with refried beans, cheese. Roll up and garnish with other toppings.



Recipe: Martini Glass Salad
This is fun and sassy!

1 Boston bibb lettuce, chopped

1/2 cup good cheddar jack cheese, grated

broken blue tortilla chips (do not crush them)

2 green onions, finely chopped

2-3 plum tomatoes, finely diced

1/2 cup black beans, rinsed 

1/2 cup baby corn, drained

1/2 TBS olive oil
salt, a good dash

1 tsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped

10 large black olives, finely chopped

1/2 cup guacamole, fresh or store bought

4 large pimento stuffed green olives
4 lime wedges

In a large bowl add onions, tomatoes, beans, corn, cilantro, black olives, oil and salt. Set aside. Put lettuce in the bottom 1/3 of 4 jumbo martini glasses. Drizzle with dressing Layer with broken tortilla chips. Drizzle with dressing. Mound up the salad mixture in the martini glass on top of the tortillas. Put a bid dollop of guacamole on the top. Skewer a slice of lime and a big green olive and place on top of the guacamole. OLE'!

Printable Recipe

Dressing:

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup adobo chili sauce and chilies

Juice of 2 limes

Zest of 1 lime
1/4 tsp of cumin
1/4 tsp of chili powder
salt


In a medium mixing bowl add sour cream, mayonnaise and adobo/chili. Add lime juice, zest, spices and salt. Stir. Cover and refrigerate to let flavors marry.

Saturday
Tostada Tartlettes
Corn On The Cob

Recipe: Tostada Tartlettes
I am a recent fan of a delightful blog, Simply... This, That And The Other. I love to visit! Last week's ON THE MENU MONDAY Lisa posted a scrumptious looking individual Mexican pie. I can't wait to make this! Visit Lisa and get the menu by clicking HERE.

Sunday
Artisan Grilled Pizza
Ceasar Salad

Recipe: Grilled Artisan Pizza
This is a wonderful pizza recipe! If you don't want to make your own pizza dough use a good store bought one! Either way, you will love this on-the-grill pizza! Click HERE for a recipe, pictures and how-to's.

Recipe: Ceasar Salad
I am a Ceasar salad snob! Yes, I am~ and proud of it! You can tell a whole lot about a restaurant by the Ceasar salad they serve. Bottled dressing is a HUGE no-no. Especially when it is a breeze to make and freezes well. I think this is the world's best Ceasar! Give it a try and let me know what you think. Click HERE for the recipe, pictures and how-to's.

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