BBQ Chicken Wings, Plus Haul-Type Stuff

I’ve been buying rotisserie chickens a lot lately, but have grown tired of them. With today’s nice weather, I decided to buy chicken to cook myself on the grill. I settled on this recipe for barbecue chicken. I made the sauce per the recipe, but did everything else differently. I bought a bone-in chicken breast at the Amish market, which I had them split for me. I also bought 1.5 pounds of wings.

Maggie was very attentive during the whole grilling process.

I sprinkled the meat with a seasoning mix from Penzey’s and grilled them per this recipe instead of the indirect heat suggested in the recipe above. I brushed half of the sauce over the meat towards the end of cooking it. I was glad I had bought the wings because they cooked much faster. I was able to enjoy them while I waited for the breasts to finish cooking. Those I’m saving for meals later this week.

Here’s a photo of the wings before I demolished them. I removed the skins before eating them.

Recent Hauls

Earlier in the day, I visited the farmer’s market with Maggie. We bought:

• Strawberries
• Carrots
• Potted basil plant
• Bulk bison burger (I’m thinking of making chili tomorrow)
• Bison short ribs
• A gluten-free cinnamon bun and gluten-free lemon pound cake

The cinnamon bun was okay — it wasn’t everything I’d built up in my head. Wishing I had those calories back. The pound cake I had after dinner with a sauce I made out of frozen raspberries and fresh strawberries simmered together. I drizzled some chocolate vincotto (I keep forgetting I have this) over the whole shebang. That was really good.

Thursday night, I picked up a small box from Eating Out of the Box. It contained lettuce, kale and two types of Chinese cabbage.

Garden Update

Today, I used up the rest of my landscape fabric to cover the ground around my raspberry and blackberry canes, and under my Vegtrug. Fingers crossed this makes weed control in those areas easier this season. I’m not planning to mulch the entire area, though I may eventually mulch around the base of the berry bushes. I’m also hoping the barrier fabric really does allow moisture through, as promised. Otherwise, watering those berry plants is going to be a pain.

I also planted some seeds I bought last summer at Monticello. The flowers are meant to attract butterflies. I sprinkled them in a bed by my garage where I threw down wildflower seed bombs last year. Some of those seeds and plants have returned this year. Hopefully the new seeds take too. Tomorrow, I’m hoping to plant some of my remaining vegetable seeds. I also need to devise a trellis system for the berry bushes and amend my compost mixture. Oh yeah. And mow the lawn.

The Pineapple Plan

I’m allergic to raw pineapple, so I can only eat it once it’s processed in some way (canned, dried, or cooked in a dish).

Store-bought dried pineapple rings are my weakness. You think you are being healthy when you eat them because they’re deceptively in the shape of the pineapple rings they once were. In reality, they’re basically pure sugar. Hence, I love them.

I need to cut back on my sugar consumption, however. I decided to dry my own pineapple rings, now that I have a dehydrator. Pineapples can be intimidating for the uninitiated though. So spiky.

Enter the Internet. After purchasing my organically grown pineapple earlier this week, I watched a video on what the heck to do with it to get to those juicy yellow rings. Here’s the video I watched.

I learned a lot, including how to pick a good pineapple. Fortunately, I just happened to purchase a good one:

The scales are all the same size and still green.

I cut off the ends and the scales, as instructed by the girl in the video. I wanted to cut the pineapple into rings, because that’s more fun.

Now, to get the core out of each slice. I didn’t have a little circular cookie cutter like the girl in the video. I dug through the supply of cookie cutters I’ve inherited — plenty of gingerbread men, even a cactus. I eventually settled on a little heart that was the exact right size. I also experimented with using a paring knife to core some of the slices. Neither was all that easy because the slices were so slippery with juice.

Cute!

Once all of the slices were cored, I put them into the dehydrator and it’s been cranking all day. One of the slices fell apart when I cored it and I’ve been using it to test the done-ness of the pieces every few hours. They’re super yummy. They’re holding onto their moisture a little too well, so I think I’m going to need to refrigerate the slices when I take them out of the dehydrator.

Each of my dehydrated slices contains about half of the sugar of the off-the-shelf dried pineapple rings. They’re just as tasty too. The only bummer is that I got just a handful of slices out of the one pineapple.

Wishing You a Bountiful New Year

Happy New Year, Freezer Fulligans! It’s been a while since I posted. That’s because I’ve been too busy eating and drinking thanks to my wonderful friends and family. Instead of posting a traditional haul post this week, here is just some of the loot I have been feasting on since Christmas:

• An entire gluten-free, vegan apple raspberry pie
• An entire wheel of brie (enjoyed on gluten-free crackers)
• Two bottles of organic wine (one red, one white)
• Organic pale ale
• Hard cider
• Still more beer (an entire grocery bag full of different selections, plus prosecco; I love my family)
• A Dogfish Head Brewery gift certificate with which to buy even more beer at a later date
• Many, many bars of various flavors of chocolate, plus a couple of truffles that didn’t last very long
• Gluten-free spinach pasta
• Something called grill honey, meant to brush over grilled meats — I can’t wait to try this
• Fruit
• Double chocolate peanut butter
• Penzey’s spice blends
• Plus still more items!

I also received an Amazon gift card, which I put toward some kitchen utensils.

I’ve had my work cut out for me, eating through all of this food, and it’s going to be a big job to work it off. It’s worth it though. Fortunately, I’ve had some healthy stuff too. This is what my fridge looked like shortly before Xmas, thanks to a local church’s fruit sale:

The citrus fruit is so good. I dried the apples and pears. I’ve also been working through a lot of greens from the farm share that I participate in.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, whichever one(s) you celebrate, and that you have a terrific 2013!

The Haul: Christmas Clam Edition

Yesterday, I returned to the Easton open-air farmer’s market for the first time in a few weeks. It’s smaller now, but it was still hopping. Here’s what I bought:

• Maple sausage
• Sweet onion
• Garlic
• Fuji apples
• Chamomile tea
• Christmas wreath

Then I stopped by the seafood market and picked up a dozen littleneck clams, a pound of wild salmon and a lemon. I found this recipe for steamed mussels and clams. I didn’t have a lot of the ingredients (including the mussels), so I made a lot of substitutions.  I had to make my own cocktail sauce, but didn’t have horseradish, so I added hot chinese mustard. The sauce ended up pretty ketchup-y, but was still good. I don’t usually have butter in the house, so olive oil stood in for that in the other sauce. The dish was really pretty and tasted pretty good too. The juxtaposition of the red and green sauces is perfect for this time of year.

 

There is a new type of farmshare in town that is really neat. Eating Out of the Box has both medium and large boxes on offer and they gather produce from various farms in the area. I get mine delivered. The boxes become available in the middle of the week, which is nice because that’s about the time I run out of fresh stuff from the weekend market. I’ve tried it twice and gotten some really good stuff including lemongrass, Asian pears and all kinds of greens. This week, joi choi arrived (a larger version of bok choi).

The thing I love about farmshares is that you get ingredients you wouldn’t normally buy and so you learn to cook new dishes. I’m still trying to find something to do with the huge daikon radish that arrived this week.

The Haul: Black Saturday Edition, Plus Adventures in Dehydration

I’ve been traveling the past two weekends and didn’t make it to the Easton farmer’s markets. Yesterday, I did hit one of the farmer’s markets in Richmond with relatives and it was fantastic! Here’s what I picked up:

• Cinnamon molasses cashew butter
• Kettle corn
• Fresh ginger
• Oyster and porcini mushrooms
• Gluten-free, egg-free pasta (made from corn flour!)
• 2 phenomenal food truck fish tacos (gosh, were those good!)

I also ventured to the Penzey’s spice store in Richmond and picked up two sausage seasoning mixes, some poppy seeds, Chinese mustard powder and a Greek seasoning mix. I can’t wait to try the seasoning mixes.

For lunch today, I made some of the pasta with the oyster mushrooms. A pasta purist may have sneered at the texture of the pasta, but it suited me just fine. It’s been almost 6 months since I’ve eaten anything pasta-like.

Lunch.

Adventures in Dehydration

Dried apple and pear slices cooling off before jarring them.

A couple of weeks ago, I bought a dehydrator, which I mentioned in my last blog post. I’ve been experimenting with it a bit. Last week, I dried sliced apple and pear slices and they came out splendidly. Normally, I can’t eat raw tree-borne fruit, but once it’s cooked, I can. Drying the fruit produces the same result. The taste of dried fruit is closer to that of fresh, so I am ecstatic that I can eat the fruit slices.

I have more pear slices drying right now. I tried some of both dipped in the cashew butter I bought yesterday — so good! I’m pondering using some of the dried apple pieces in a future batch of breakfast sausage.

Last night, I dried the porcini mushrooms that I bought at the farmer’s market. This way, I can take my time figuring out how to use them in a recipe — I just need to pop them in some broth or hot water to rehydrate  before cooking with them.

Dried porcini ‘shrooms.

The Haul: Shopping-While-Hungry Edition

I broke one of the cardinal rules of food shopping today and left for the markets before breakfast. The result: I bought a ton of food!

I started at the open-air market. I had already resolved to buy a bunch of tomatoes for freezing. I also bought:

• 2 pints cherry tomatoes
• 2 pints blackberries!!!
• 1 1/2 pint raspberries* (part of breakfast)
• a bunch of sweet potatoes
• 3 bell peppers
• 2 cucumbers
• figs!
• bison skirt steak

And I wasn’t done yet. I needed to go to the Amish market for sausage meat. Last week, I made this pork sausage recipe and it was really, really good, but I passed by the pork this week because the line was really long and got mixed ground turkey again. But, this weekend there’s a pig roast out in the parking lot! So, I also got suckered into buying:

• 1 pint peach ice cream
• homemade Amish potato chips (many of which became part of breakfast)

I also had resolved to buy fish to cook this week so I crossed the street and bought at Captain’s Ketch:

• 1 bag of onions
• 1 pound of wild-caught Coho salmon
• 1 1/2 pint of their amazing shrimp salad (also part of breakfast)

What’s more, I haven’t even touched the watermelon and butternut squash that I bought last week. Also, the plums I bought last week were far from ripe and so those have been hanging out until they soften up a bit. I still have some of the peaches that I grilled to eat too.

Oh, and after purchasing everything that I did today, I forgot to buy greens like I’d planned.

*It didn’t occur to me, until there were only a few left, that maybe instead of eating the entire half-pint of raspberries in one sitting, I could have frozen them for baking or something later. This is the second time this week I’ve downed that many at one time. The farmer’s market at UMD had them this week too. In my defense, the ones I bought at work were so ripe, they wouldn’t have survived until I got home and I did share some with my coworkers.

Amish hand-made potato chips (a.k.a., breakfast).

Allergy Update

It appears that wheat, and also probably gluten, are among my allergies. I’m still trying to figure out the gluten thing though. I can drink beer, but not wheat beer. I was able to eat non-wheat flour bread last weekend, but presumably it still had gluten in it? I did, happily, find flourless, eggless cookies at the UMD farmer’s market this past week. Definitely going to stock up on those!

Garden Non-Update

Not much to report from the garden. I still haven’t planted what I said I would. I had hoped to do some planting today, but now it’s raining. Hopefully, tomorrow.

The Haul: Sad Panda Edition

It’s been a couple of weeks — I was traveling last weekend. And I missed the last of the blackberries. This makes me sadder than you can imagine.

I consoled myself by buying really deep purple, shiny plums. They’re California plums and probably not organic, but I really want to relive that taste from my childhood. I’m planning on roasting these (I can’t eat them raw) like I did with some locally grown plums a couple of weeks ago. Those just didn’t taste like the ones I remember — they were a smaller, tarter variety. They weren’t bad, just different.

Here’s what else I bought:

• 2 kinds of sweet pepper
• 2 yellow squash
• 1 quart yellow peaches
• 1 seedless sugar baby watermelon
• 1 quart tomatoes
• 1 pint grape tomatoes
• 1 butternut squash (already!)
• 1 loaf of very dense rye bread that contains sunflower seeds, but no wheat
• 1 pound of brats
• 1 bunch dandelion greens

All of this weighed a lot and I walked to the market today because it’s so nice and cool. I’m contemplating a run to the Amish market for ground turkey to make more breakfast sausage. Also, I forgot to buy cheese at the open-air market, so I may buy some there.

Garden Update

All that’s left in the VegTrug are the chives, basil and rosemary and a couple sad-looking carrots and onions. I think the onions are done and I’m tempted to pull them to see how they turned out. The carrots, I’m hoping, will bounce back when the weather cools. My kale is finally fading so I’m going to pull it out and plant new (I keep saying that — I really mean to do it).

I’d really let the weeds go around the VegTrug and so spent some time pulling weeds around that part of the garden last night. I’ve learned that piling the pulled weeds on top of other weeds smothers the underlying weeds while the pulled weeds compost themselves. I’m trying that around the VegTrug.

The stinkbugs are still decimating my pumpkin plant. No pumpkins from my garden this year, I’m afraid. I still have the trap out there and it has caught a few. In speaking with a friend, what I really should have done early on was pull all the ones I found and dunk them in a bowl of soapy water to kill them and keep them from procreating. I’m doing that now with the ones that are big enough for me to catch, but there are so many tiny baby ones, it’s kind of a fruitless endeavor.

My tomato plants also are done and I started trimming them back in preparation for pulling them out and taking down that container and cage.

Allergy Update

Well, I tried the rye bread that I bought today and that seems to be working out okay. I tried chocolate yesterday and no reaction to that either. Yes! I have been thoroughly enjoying the return of dairy to my life. Still staying away from wheat, but I’m getting by with corn-based products. So happy to be able to eat the crunchy tacos at Chipotle when I go there.

The Haul: Hot and Buggy Edition

Boardwalk Fries (with malt vinegar, of course) at the beach!

I took a break from blogging last week while I was on vacation at the beach. It was splendid. But I returned home late Friday night and was back at the markets yesterday. Here’s what I got:

• 1 quart peaches (for grilling/broiling; I’m allergic to them raw)
• 1 eggplant (also for grilling)
• 2 cucumbers
• 1 canary melon
• 3 pints blackberries (the farmer asked if I freeze them for the winter and I said I hadn’t been able to yet because I eat them so fast!)
• 2 peppers (1 purple and 1 very light, almost white one)
• 1 bulb garlic
• 1 pint honey yogurt (!)

Isn’t this such a pretty eggplant?

Then I headed to the Amish market and bought one pound of ground turkey (a mix of light and dark meat) for making my own breakfast sausage (see my next post on that) and some chicken breasts for grilling. I also stopped at the seafood market and bought shrimp salad (!), flounder and salmon.

Garden Update

The garden tomatoes awaiting me when I returned home.

Here’s where it gets hot and buggy. I didn’t bother having my neighbors water my plants while I was gone. The stinkbugs have completely taken over. They don’t seem the least bit bothered by the lavender oil I sprayed on them and they mocked my marigold efforts by taking up residence in one of the pots and all but killing that plant. WTF? I guess I should have suspected that if either were really a tried-and-true solution, stinkbugs wouldn’t be the scourge that they are.

I resorted to buying a stinkbug trap, despite the bad ratings I found about them. I need to try something, otherwise, I’m afraid the stupid things will set sights on my house when the weather turns colder. Blargh. So far, the trap has only caught one bug (and not a stinkbug). Double blargh.

Despite not really getting watered (I think Easton had some rain while I was away though), my tomato plants produced quite a few ripe, red fruits (and a couple mushy/half-eaten ones too — thanks, stinkbugs). These may be among the last as the plants are yellowing and brown now and there are no new flowers budding.

The pumpkin plant continues to grow while the stinkbugs eat and lay their eggs on it. I suspect that I should have developing fruit by now though and none have appeared yet (and I’m sure they’d be devoured anyhow). Sigh.

The remaining squash plant is all but dead. Ah well. I have better plans for those plants next year. Now I can clear it and the spindly pepper plant out to seed some broccoli, kale, carrots and arugula for the fall. The stinkbugs appear to be leaving the remaining kale plants alone.

Allergy Update

I experimented while on vacation and the results are muddled. Wheat and/or gluten appear to be another issue for me. I can drink most beer without a problem, but had issues after drinking a wheat beer one night. I tried funnel fries on the boardwalk one day and also had issues with that. I’m going to look into what wheat-free baked goods are available to me at the “crunchy grocery” later this week and see if there’s a way to test things out further. I’m also going to give the wheat beer another chance (it happens to be my favorite type of beer). Triple blargh.

My dairy experiment, on the other hand, seems to be going well. I have eaten small quantities of cheese without issue and had yogurt for the first time in months this morning, also without a problem. The seafood market shrimp salad also went down nice and easy. Yay! Ice cream next!

The Haul + Garden Update

I surprised this praying mantis while weeding my driveway (!) by the garage. Notice he’s about to have a snack? I desperately need a new driveway. It’s going to be an ordeal though — the old asphalt needs to be ripped out and the ground regraded. Ugh.

Anywho, I didn’t take photos of my haul this morning because it was a bit unwieldy:

• 3 pints blackberries from two different farms
• 2 cucumbers
• 1 canary melon (last week’s was SO good!)
• 1 pint assorted cherry, grape and pear tomaotes
• 1 pint assorted other tomaoes
• 1 pint Pruden’s Purple tomatoes (the tie-dyed variety from a few weeks ago)
• 1 pint greek feta cheese (not the rosemary kind, but still pretty good)
• 2 purple peppers
• 1 pint jalapeno-hot (but not true jalapeno) peppers

Currently awaiting some houseguests to arrive before probably venturing back out to the Amish market.

Garden Update

I *think* the blossom end rot problem may be solved after watering my tomatoes more regularly (some actual rain also has helped). I also sprayed those plants and the pumpkin plant with a mixture of lavender essential oil and water to see if that will chase away the stink bugs that have been taking up residence. Also planning to buy some marigolds to combat that problem.

I’m thinking of doing some rearranging in the Vegtrug. If I can do so without killing it, I’m going to try and move the pepper plant away from the remaining squash plant, which is encroaching on it big time. I also want to try planting some broccoli, spinach and more kale. Possibly some more carrots and arugula as well. Those plants are more Vegtrug-appropriate, I believe. I’m counting on a prolonged fall to allow them to develop so I can enjoy them before winter sets in.

Allergy Update

Eggs! I knew that at least one of my allergies would most likely be something I’ve eaten my whole life because of certain issues I’ve dealt with as long as I can remember. I was still pretty shocked to determine that one of the culprits was eggs though. Still hopeful I’ll be able to use them in baked goods, but they are no longer on my breakfast menu. Even more heart-breaking than that is a sensitivity to nitrites/nitrates. That means I have to be careful with bacon as well…

The Haul: Flower Power Edition

Today, at the open-air market I bought:

• 3 pints blackberries
• 1 canary melon
• 1 cuke
• 1 purple bell pepper
• 1 pint assorted cherry tomatoes
• 1 dozen eggs
• 1 bison flank steak
• 4 bison burgers
• 1 jar local wildflower honey
• 5 sunflowers!

Garden Update

Sad times in the Vegtrug last night as I put the zucchini plants and one of the squash plants out of their misery. The zucchini plants never produced fruit and their blossoms were all withering. I left one of the squash plants as it still had developing fruit on it, but by the state of its leaves, it’s not long for this world either.

BUT, removing all those plants allowed me access to harvest my first planting of carrots! One of them is quite ladylike:

I’m still struggling with blossom end rot among my tomato plants. I have managed to snag a few tomatoes off the plants as they start to turn orangey and before the rot sets in. They ripen pretty well on my window sill. I ate two last night with dinner. Yesterday at lunch I ate the only bell pepper I’ve managed to harvest so far…

I keep telling myself this isn’t that bad for my first year with a real garden. Lots of lessons learned. I am not drowning in produce as I had hoped, but it’s still a lot of fun and I’m eating really well.