Sunday: Hamburgers

I hope that I don't need to explain how to cook a burger. This should be the easiest post yet. For you Farmer's Market purists---this is a great recipe since the only thing store bought is the mighty hamburger bun.

1 pound ground beef

1 onion

1 Tomato

Slice of Swiss cheese

Hamburger buns


Make 4 beef patties and grill on the BBQ, or if you live in an apartment, a panini press. Slice the onion, Swiss cheese, and tomato and add any condiments that you like. Voila!

Once again, I like how the meat is fresher and doesn't have that raw meat smell from the grocery store. I also like that is it red, and not pink with meat grinder lines. This is an easy meal, and a great way to showcase the main ingredients without overwhelming them in sauces and techniques.

Saturday: Roasted Chicken Thighs

6 Chicken thighs

¼ Cup flour

2 Tablespoon butter

2 Tablespoon oil

1 Red onion

1 Head of garlic

½  Tablespoon Jalapeno

¼ Cup White wine

1 Cup chicken broth

 

Parsley

 Dredge the thighs in flour and heat 1 part olive oil, 1 part butter over medium high heat on the skillet.

 

Let one side of the thigh become a golden brown color before flipping it to the other side.

 

 

Add garlic, onion, jalapeno, white wine and broth and bring to a simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. If you have a pan that can also go into the oven, go ahead and cover and use that. If not, transfer into an 8x8 glass casserole pan. Cover with tin foil and cook for 20 minutes at 350. Remove cover and cook 15 minutes.

 

 

In the meantime, cook some pasta. It will act as a bed for your chicken. Use some butter and parsley to flavor it. I used about a ¼ cup of fresh parsley and ¼ cup of butter for 3/4 ‘s a box of spaghetti. I also sprinkled Cajun spices over the top, before topping the meat and juices over it.

Friday: New York Strip Steak

1 pound NY strip steak

Seasonings, rub

Green beans

2 potatoes

Butter

Preheat oven for 400. Make holes with a fork all around the potato. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter. Wrap the potato in foil and pour butter over potato. Bake for an hour.

Rub seasoning onto steak and place on a grill (or use a Panini grill) for no more than 3 minutes per side. Let rest for 5 minutes.

Blanche the green beans. I used butter to flavor this batch.

Thursday: Quesodillas

Tortillas

Kale

Butter

Swiss cheese

Jalapenos

Leftover chicken from Sunday

I made 3 kinds of quesadillas, Swiss cheese with jalapenos kale and chicken; cheddar cheese jalapenos and chicken; and cheddar cheese and jalapenos. My favorite was the Swiss, but if others in your family aren’t as adventurous, cheddar will do. You can get cheddar or Swiss at the farmer’s market.

 

Use butter for Kale with lots of garlic, since it has that cheesy aftertaste. Cook on medium heat until softened. Shred your cheese and dice you jalapenos. Heat the tortillas over medium heat with cheese, kale, and jalapenos. Fold tortillas over when it looks like the cheese is melting. Then flip the tortilla on the other side. Repeat.

 

 

 

 

Wednesday: Chicken Pot Pie

2 TBS butter

2 TBS flour

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 milk

1/2 onion

Garlic (to taste)

Corn sliced off the cob

Green beans

½ cup of chicken from the Sunday recipe

Pre-made pie crust

375 for 45 minutes

If you have the time and the ability to make a homemade crust, then kudos to you. I used a store bought pie crust for this. The milk, garlic, broth, and flour were also from the store.

 

I made a roux by melting 2 tablespoons of butter and adding 2 tablespoons of flour. Cook for 1 minute and then add 1 ½ cups of chicken broth, ½ a cup at a time. Make sure it thickens before adding the next ½ cup. Add ½ a cup of milk at the end.

 

Cut the corn straight from the cob and cut the onion and green beans into kernel sized pieces. The chicken has already been cooked, so it can be left in strips. Add everything into pie crust and cook at 375 for 45 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes.

 

The veggie pieces are crisp and cooked through perfectly. The butter actually gives it a lot of flavor. It has a Swiss cheese after taste, and it very rich. It works very well for adding richness to this dish. The texture of crisp yet cooked veggies is truly wonderful, and the butter from the market really does make a difference.

 

Tuesday: Shish Kabobs

Marinade:

4 TB lemon infused olive oil

¼ Cup of olive oil

¼  Cup of good Balsamic vinegar

1 TSP rosemary

1 TSP oregano

1 TBS garlic

Kabobs:

2 Tomatoes

1 Onion

2 Bell peppers

1 TBS vinegar

2 TBS oil

1 Pound stew meat

Sides:

Corn on the cob

Rice 

I use about a quarter cup of olive oil and a quarter cup of lemon olive oil, and if I did it again, I would use all lemon infused olive oil. It was mild enough to do so. If you don’t have lemon infused olive oil, you can use the regular one, or zest a lemon and add. I highly recommend it though. Lemon has a way of making balsamic sweeter and really complements it (especially for the veggies). I used a quarter of a cup of really good balsamic vinegar for the stew meat and marinated for 45 minutes. I also added 1 Tsp of rosemary and oregano with a tablespoon of garlic. While this is marinating, soak your wooden skewers for 20 minutes or more so that they don’t burn.

 

 

For the veggies, I quartered 2 tomatoes, 1 red onion, 2 green bell peppers. I marinated them in 2 tablespoons of lemon olive oil and 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar for 20 minutes.

Since I live an apartment, I don’t have a grill. Instead, I used my oven broiler. I cooked them for 10 minutes, (although next time I might try 8 for the meat). I used one of those steamables chicken flavored rice as the base, and placed the veggies and meat on top. I also served with a side of corn. This was my favorite farmer’s market meat. It was sweet and savory and wonderful. The meat was a little fatty, but it was discarded parts of the roast, so it was really high quality. I only wish I had bought some zucchini.

 

 

 

The veggies were fresh, flavorful, and the kabob allows them to be showcased (instead of doused in sauces). Worth it!

 

Monday: Lasagna

 

          1 Can of whole tomatoes

         1 Pound of sausage

         1 Small can of tomato sauce

         1 Pound of cottage cheese

         1 Egg

          Small handful of parmesan

          No bake noodles

          2 cups Mozzarella

Cook the sausage at medium high heat, until browned. Feel free to add onions or garlic as well, since I forgot. Cut tomatoes into 4ths and add to sausage. I used a can of tomato sauce as well, but I think a can of tomato paste with 3 cans of water would create a saucier mixture.

To make the cheese mixture, I prefer cottage cheese to ricotta. However you decide, adding and a small handful of parmesan will make a big difference in flavor. I include an egg as well.

 

I also prefer no bake lasagna noodles—it cuts down on the time and the mess. Since lasagna noodles are cooked twice and don’t need to be al dente, I really don’t see any difference in texture.

 

I ladled the sauce into a 9x9 pan and then added 2 no bake noodles. Then I added another layer of sauce, a layer of cottage cheese and topped with 2 more noodles. I poured the rest of the sauce onto the last layer of noodles and topped with 2 cups of Mozzarella. I followed the cooking directions on the box of the no bake noodles, since they aren’t the traditional type.

I cheated a little with this recipe, since the only farmer’s market items are the eggs and sausage. I found the sausage to be rather salty, so I would opt for low salt options for the sauces. I think if I had added onions, garlic and tomato paste it would have been more flavorful, but it is still a pretty good lasagna.