Savory Cantaloupe

 

  Every so often, maybe every other month, I host a little get together for a group of my dearest friends. Sometimes it's a movie night, sometimes it's a bonfire night, or my favorite.. Christmas Tree Decorating. And as with any party, I love love LOVE to come up with new menu ideas. I love to give myself the personal challenge of coming up with something new for each dinner. 

 So, recently, I was planning for our Summer Hang, and I had already set the menu: Corn on the cob, Jersey tomato Caprese salad, Chicken skewers, and some roasted peppers as an appetizer. Nothing too fancy. But all delicious and definitely SUMMER. 

 And then, literally the day before our dinner, I happened to see a short video from Ayesha Nurdjaja. If you're not familiar, she's often seen on different Food Networks shows, most notably as one of the Titans on Bobby's Triple Threat. Anyway, I happened to see a video of her making this savory cantaloupe.

 As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to add it to my menu.. mainly because I knew it would be the perfect thing for my summer menu, but also because I love cantaloupe, especially when it's sprinkled with a little salt! This recipe takes that idea and runs with it. It's sweet, it's savory, it's tart, it's SO refreshing, and it has just a little spicy hit at the end. Nothing to burn my face off, but just the tiniest little poke. FABULOUS. I decided to serve it as an appetizer, but it's perfect as a little summer snack, or even as a palate cleanser between courses. 

  If you like cantaloupe, you simply MUST give this one a try. It was a HUGE hit with my friends, and it'll be a hit for you too!! SO good!

 

  

Fresh ripe cantaloupe

Olive oil

Fresh lime juice

Honey 

Fresh mint leaves

Tajin seasoning

Sea salt 

 

Basically, everything is to taste. 

Slice your cantaloupe into wedges. Place them on a serving plate. 

Stir together the oil, lime juice, and honey. Drizzle the dressing over the cantaloupe.

Sprinkle with chopped mint, Tajin, and salt.

That's it!

 

Tips:

I think the key to this recipe is the Tajin seasoning. If you're not familiar, it's a spice blend that is kind of like a mild chili powder with salt and dehydrated lime juice. It's FABULOUS. Put it on anything!

One of Ayesha's tips was to make sure your cantaloupe is well chilled. She said It has to be COLD! That makes it all the more refreshing.  

She also used the zest of the lime, but I just used the juice. I'm guessing she just drizzled everything over the cantaloupe, but I whisked the dressing together first and then gave it a quick taste to see if I needed to adjust the sweetness. 

I served mine with the rind still on, making it easy to just pick it up with your hands and take a bite, but feel free to remove the rind if you're so inclined. 

 

Joey's Chicken and Zucchini Stuffing Casserole

   

 

   Every summer, my favorite thing is to take advantage of as much Jersey produce as possible. I’m constantly finding new ways to cook corn on the cob, and I’m basically living on Jersey tomato sandwiches. (Fresh slices of tomato between two slices of toasted bread, a little slather on mayo, salt and pepper.. HEAVEN.) But this summer, I find myself wanting comfort meals a little earlier than Autumn, which is my usual go-to. So I decided to do both! Make a comfort meal using some fresh produce. Perfect!
 Since everyone is always looking for ways to “use up all that extra zucchini” that they having growing in their home gardens, I decided to do a chicken and zucchini casserole. 
 I knew I wanted to make it a complete meal by adding a starch, but I couldn’t decide which one. Potatoes? Rice? Pasta? Really, any one of them would work. Then I thought.. wait….STUFFING! Yes, that’s the right play here. So I basically just threw everything together… it came out so perfect, I think this is one of my new faves. Fun, huh? I also love that there’s a little wiggle room with the ingredients and cooking method. Use what you have, make it the way you like it. That’s the best way to cook, right?
 So I hope you’ll give it a try. Summer, Autumn, or whenever you feel like it. This one’s a keeper!




Butter or olive oil
3 medium zucchini
1 small onion
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
2 cans cream of anything soup
1 soup can milk
8 oz Swiss cheese, shredded
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 pkg Stove Top stuffing mix


Place a few tbs of butter or olive in a large skillet over medium heat. Cut the zucchini into 1” pieces. Add to pan along with chopped onion. Stir and sauté until they cook down a bit. 
While the veggies are cooking, cut the chicken thighs into bite sized pieces. Add to a large mixing bowl along with remaining ingredients. Stir well. When the veggies are tender, add them to the chicken mixture and stir everything until evenly combined. 
Now you have two options for cooking:
Pour everything into a casserole dish. Bake in a 350º oven for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let it stand for a good 10 minutes before serving. 
OR
Pour everything into a slow cooker and cook it on low for 4 hours. Easy!



Tips:
Boneless breasts will work just as well as thighs, but I just like the thighs better. You do you!
I used cream of onion soup, but use any kind you like. Cream of chicken or mushroom or celery, all good!
I topped mine with a little extra cheese and some chopped scallions, because why not?.
Not a fan of zucchini? Try broccoli or asparagus or even a mix of veggies. Broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower would be delish!
If you’re making this in the slow cooker, make sure you don’t go too long. 4 hours is exactly the right amount of time!

Bacon Cheeseburger Orzo

  

  

   I was recently in the mood for a comfort meal. You know, the kind of cheesy casserole-y kind of meal that always hits the spot and makes you feel just a little bit better. But what to make? First, I decided that it should be a stove top meal because it’s just too hot to turn on the oven. Then I took a quick inventory of my fridge and pantry to see what would work. 

 This is sort of how it happened:

 “ …. so.. what kind of protein…  ground beef.. that works.. a few last pieces of bacon.. perfect.. and now a few aromatics.. onions.. definitely… bell pepper, got it… what else.. minced garlic.. that’s a must…. And now for the starch….  Rice? Pasta? Orzo… YES…. And now to make it cheesy.. DONE.”

 Does anyone else do this? Just see what you have and make something out of it? Of course, sometimes I’ll have a recipe to follow, but in this case, it was what I usually refer to as a ‘throw-together” meal. (I think I must’ve gotten this method from my Mom). 

 Anyway, I mentioned it to my nephew, Daniel, and he said “ There’s no way that that’s bad.” 

 I mean, he’s not wrong. If you put a bunch of your favorite ingredients in a casserole, you’re all but guaranteed to hit all the right notes. In this case, it was so good that I immediately thought “I need to write this down before I forget what I did!” I already know I’ll be making this one again soon!

  I hope you’ll try it too. It’s easy to make and definitely hits the spot!

A few strips of bacon, cut into lardons
1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, roughly chopped
1 green bell pepper, roughly chopped
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup mustard
8oz Velveeta cheese
8oz Sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup orzo pasta
3 cups beef broth (or water)
Chopped scallions for garnish


Place the bacon in a large pan. Turn on the heat to medium low, and let it slowly come up to heat. Saute the bacon until slightly crispy. Drain any excess fat and save it for another use. Now add the beef, onions, peppers, and garlic. Meanwhile, in a small pot, bring the broth to a boil and add the orzo. 
Continue to sauté until the meat is brown, and the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper. Now add the ketchup, mustard, and cheeses.
When the orzo is cooked, add it to the beef mixture along with any remaining broth. Give everything a good stir until well combined. Turn off the heat, and let it stand for about 10 minutes. Top with sliced scallions and serve. 


Tips:
 Can you cook everything in one pot? Probably. But since I wasn’t sure how soupy it would be, I cooked the orzo separately to see if it would need any more liquid. I wound up adding all of the broth anyway. Turns out the orzo was VERY thirsty and it soaked it right up. If you want to do everything in one pot, I would add the broth and orzo right after the beef is browned. Then add the ketchup, mustard, and cheeses at the end after the liquid is absorbed. 
 Do you really need the ketchup and mustard? No. Don’t like it? Just leave it out! But it definitely makes it taste more like a cheeseburger! 
For leftovers, just add a splash of water and reheat in the microwave, or store in airtight containers in the freezer. 

Homemade Grape Jam

 

  When I first bought my home a few years ago, I made a mental list of all the things I wanted to do, renovations and such. One of my ideas was to plant some fruit trees. I chose lots of fruits… apples, peaches, pears, cherries, and a few others…and then I thought.. the side fence would be prime real estate to plant some grape vines. I really had no idea what I was doing. (I’m still figuring it out as I go, tbh), but I figured “Let’s put some things in the ground and see what grows!”
  Cut to a few years later and my grapevines have FLOURISHED! I’m so pleased to say that they’re now growing and producing some wonderfully sweet grapes, enough to make pots of jam (which was the goal all along). So I figured I’d share how to make it. I canned it too, but this post will be just for the making, not for the canning. It’s more about the technique, not the recipe, since there are only a few ingredients. It’s a lot simpler than you might think, the pay off is amazing, and you’ll get quite a bang for your buck. I hope you’ll give it a try!



OK here we go. All you need is:
Seedless grapes
Sugar
Lemon juice

I do everything by weight, not by volume. 
Pick all of your grapes from their stems, place them in a colander and give them a good rinse. After you’ve drained them well, place them on a kitchen scale. Once you have their weight, then weigh your sugar. You want your amount of sugar to be a little less than your grapes. For instance, I had just over 4 pounds of grapes, so I used about 3 pounds of sugar. It’s not an exact science, so you can definitely cut back a little on the sugar, especially if the grapes are very sweet. Place your grapes and sugar in a large heavy pot. Add about a cup of water, (even better, you can use any kind of fruit juice), and a few tablespoons of lemon juice. 
 Bring it to a slow simmer until they begin to soften, then mash them up a bit. Let them simmer on a medium to low heat, not boiling, for about 30 minutes, stirring every so often. 
 Now it’s time to blend everything until it’s completely smooth. I used an immersion blender, but if you don’t have one, you can carefully ladle your hot liquid into a regular blender in batches. 
 After it’s all blended, bring the heat back up until it reaches a slow gentle boil. Let it go for about an hour, stirring frequently, until it reduces down to your desired consistency. I like it to be very thick, similar to ketchup. 
Give it a stir, then give it a taste. You want to make sure it’s tart enough to balance the sweetness. I always wind up adding more lemon because I like it to be VERY tart. 
 And there you have it! Home made jam from fresh grapes! Boom. 



Tips:
I prefer to simmer it at a slow boil to minimize the risk of burning it. However, if you’d prefer to reduce your cooking time while you’re reducing your jam, you can crank up the heat, but you need to stir it constantly. Yes, constantly. Trust me on this one. 
Like I said, using fruit juice instead of water is a good flavor booster. It doesn’t even have to be grape juice. Apple, orange, cherry, cranberry, or even pomegranate juice will all work!
Sometimes when you boil jam, the bubbles can create a foam. You can skim it off the top, or.. pro tip.. just add a pat of butter to the jam. Presto! No foam!
This jam can be canned using a water bath or steam canner. Process pints or half pints for 10 minutes.  

Old Fashioned Squash Casserole

 

  Every year, I look forward to all the amazing produce Summer has to offer, and that ALWAYS includes zucchini and yellow squash. I swear you can do just about anything with 'em, but one of my absolute favorite things is an old fashioned Southern casserole. You know, the ones with the crushed Ritz crackers on the top. Rich and creamy without being too heavy, buttery and slightly salty from the crackers. Absolutely DELISH! Super easy to throw together too.

Definitely give this one a go, especially if you're wondering what to do with all that squash and zucchini coming from your garden. 

You'll be glad you did! 

 

2 tbs butter

6 medium yellow squash, sliced and then cut into half or quarter rounds

1 large onion, roughly chopped

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream 

1 cup milk

8oz shredded Cheddar cheese 

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed

3 tbs butter, melted

 

Preheat oven to 350º F.

In a large pan or skillet, melt 2 tbs butter. Add the squash and onions and cook until tender. Drain any excess liquid. 

In a large bowl, stir together remaining filling ingredients except the crackers and 3 tbs butter. Add the drained squash and onions, stirring gently until combined. Now fold in half of the crushed Ritz crackers. 

Spray a 9×13 casserole dish with cooking spray. Pour in the squash mixture and spread evenly. Toss the melted butter with the rest of the crushed Ritz crackers. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the casserole. 

Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes, or until top has lightly browned and the casserole is set. 

 

 

Tips:

Whatever you do, don't skip the first step! It may seem easier to just bake the squash in the casserole instead of cooking it first in a skillet, but this step is needed to remove all the excess moisture. Otherwise, you'll end up with a watery casserole and you'll be mortified when you make it for a dinner party and all of your guests are eating a squash soup instead of casserole. Don't ask me how I know...

The squash will cook down quite a bit, so you might use more than you think you will! 

I like to use just the yellow squash, but like I said, it works equally well with zucchini or a combination of the two 

If you don't have RITZ crackers, use any other favorite cracker, Just make sure they're nice and buttery! 

And if you really wanna go for the Old Fashioned vibe, go ahead and add some hot sauce. Now THAT's Southern cooking.

 

 

Joey's Zucchina Pastina

 

 

 I was recently feeling the need for some comfort food, and I figured a summer pasta might be just the thing. I must say, as much as I love it, I don't have pasta very often, so it's always a treat when I do. For this one, I started with a few sliced zucchini, and some chopped onions. From there, the rest of the recipe just sort of fell into place. A few dried herbs, some tiny pasta, and a drizzle of cream later, and I was in heaven! I loved it so much, I had to have a second bowl, which rarely ever happens! Not even kidding. This was literally the comforting something I had in mind. Bonus, it's a great summer pasta because there are no giant pots of boiling water. And it's an easy weeknight meal because it comes together in no time. Perfect, right? 

Oh, and if you're wondering about the name, how could I NOT? I couldn't resist going for the rhyme of it all. It was just sitting right there. Had to do it!

 Anyway, I hope you'll make it. It's just SO good! I just know you'll love it!

  

 

 

 

 Olive oil

4 or 5 small zucchini

1 medium onion

4-5 cloves of garlic

Sprinkle of each: dried oregano, basil, and thyme 

Salt and pepper 

1 cup dry pastina, orzo, or other tiny pasta

3 cups chicken broth

3 tbs butter

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 

Drizzle of cream 

Diced sun dried tomatoes in oil, (optional) 

 

 

In a large skillet, heat a few big glugs of olive oil over medium heat. Add chopped onions and sliced zucchini. Stir and saute for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, dried herbs, salt, and pepper. Continue to stir until fragrant. Add the dry pastina and chicken broth. Stir well, then cover. Reduce heat to medium low. When most of the liquid is absorbed, add the butter, grated cheese, and a little drizzle of cream. Stir well until rich and glossy. Serve with a little more grated cheese. Garnish with a few chopped sun dried tomatoes, if desired. 

 

 

Tips: 

 Most of the ingredients are to taste. If you want more zucchini or onions or cheese, go for it! The only ratio to keep in mind is 1 cup dry tiny pasta to 3 cups broth. That will give you that rich risotto-like texture. 

Instead of chicken broth, use any kind of broth you like, or even just water (in which case, I'd add a little Better Than Bouillon).

Feel free to add yellow squash, or swap out the zucchini for any favorite vegetable. Sky's the limit! 

 

 

 

Seafood Bake

   Lately I've been on a big seafood kick. For me, that usually means lots of shellfish. As far as I'm concerned, you just can't go wrong with shrimp and crab.

  The only problem is they can be quite fiddly, without a big payoff. Peeling shrimp and picking tiny bits of crab out of their shells...not the easy throw-together meal I was thinking of. But then I decided a casserole might be just the thing. Nothing too difficult, nothing too fiddly. Just something that is quick to assemble but still with a big payoff. 

 To make things easy, I used already peeled and deveined shrimp, and imitation crab. The rest of the ingredients were just regular items that you might already have in your pantry. 

 The whole thing came together in a matter of minutes, and guess what? It was DELICIOUS! 

I took inspiration from a recipe on a blog called Food52 but I didn't do it exactly as they had written it. (shocker, I know haha) I'm SO please with how it turned out!

 Now, I will say it does have lots of butter in it which makes it very rich, but you can scale it back and lighten it up a little, if you like. It's your kitchen, you do you! 

Hope you like it! 

 

 

 

1 stick butter, divided
2 ribs celery, finely diced
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 small onion, finely diced
1 (10oz) can condensed cream of celery soup
1/2 cup sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Old Bay Seasoning to taste
1 lb raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed
1 lb lump or imitation crab meat
1 sleeve butter crackers, crushed

 

 

Heat oven to 350F. Spray a 9x13 casserole dish. Set aside. 
Melt 4 tbs of butter in a skillet. Add celery, peppers, and onions. Saute until they begin to soften. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, stir together the soup, sour cream, and spices. Add the sautéed veggies. Gently stir in the shrimp and crab. Pour into prepared casserole dish. Cover with foil. Bake for 45 minutes. In a small bowl, melt the remaining butter and stir together with the crushed crackers. Remove casserole from oven, remove cover. Sprinkle the casserole with the buttered cracker crumbs. Place back into the oven, uncovered, for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the crackers are golden brown. Serve with rice or rice pilaf and/or a nice crisp tossed salad.


 

Tips:
Wanna add other types of seafood? Go for it! I think scallops would be a great addition, and definitely lobster, if you’re feeling a little bougie!  I would even add small chunks of cod. By the same token, feel free to omit anything you don’t like. Not a fan of crab? Just use shrimp! Not a fan of shrimp? Just use crab!
,