Thursday, July 10, 2008

The fruits of our labor

We are finally getting some produce from the garden. We pick cherry tomatoes off the vine almost daily. We only pick one though, we just can't seem to wait to eat them. They are so very good. We will soon have a ton of them, but right now they are only turning red one at a time. Worth has gotten to eat his beloved tomato sandwich on VERY cheap white bread (those are his demands, it has to be cheap). Let me see if I can get this right, he said "the sandwich tasted like summer in juice form", or something like that. Basically it was good! Well I wanted to give back to my blog community this morning with some recipes that we have been loving on. I get so many wonderful recipes from you, so here are some from my kitchen.

If you are like us then you have so much basil in your garden that you don't know what to do with it all. Well here is a recipe for Chicken Holy Basil, although we don't use Holy Basil, just the kind that we have which is Genovese Basil. This recipe calls for 3 cups, so it is perfect. It also calls for Thai Chiles, but we use what we have a lot of in our garden, which right now is Jalapeno and Serreno Chiles. This is a Martha Stewart effort with a Grant household spin. Also you can make this recipe as hot as you like just adjust the peppers.
Chicken Holy Basil
10 garlic cloves, minced (people will love you!)
6 fresh Thai Chilies, thinly sliced crosswise (we mince)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Asian Fish Sauce (don't be afraid of this)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
4 1/2 teaspoons sugar
Freshly Ground Pepper
3 cups loosely packed fresh Holy Basil (or whatever you have) plus more for garnish
Sticky Rice for serving
1. Mash together garlic and chiles using a mortar and pestle or the flat side of a large knife (we don't usually do this step, but just mince them and combine in oil). Heat oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until garlic is just golden, about 20 seconds.
2. Add chicken, cook, stirring often, until chicken is cooked through, about 4 minutes. Stir in fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Add basil; cook stirring constantly, 1 minute. Season with more pepper, if desired. Serve over rice, garnish with basil.
Here is another recipe we had last night for Sweet Potato Fries with Basil Salt and Garlic Mayonnaise . It is OUTSTANDING and another good way to use up that basil. We had those fries with Grilled Romesco-Style Pork. Seriously what is the point of eating out when this is all right here in your kitchen. Now on the pork I just got The Earth Bound Baby Greens and placed as much as I wanted on a platter and then drizzled the hot dressing over the greens. I also did not use roasted red peppers. I hope you guys cook this and if you do tell me how you liked it!

I simply cannot do a blog entry without posting pictures of my Sweet Girl. The world must know the beauty that is BellaRose (only being slightly serious here)! Sorry about the feminine products on the first pictures, us moms gotta do what we can sometimes to keep them entertained. These pictures pretty much sum up her favorite things to do, play in my makeup, give high fives (or ten), and play under the table.

10 comments:

Jim said...

I am at work and you have just made me so...hungry.

I have to try these they make my mouth water.

Jim

The Colorado Carrs said...

Oh my word she is cute!!

KatieKate said...

Oooooh, yummy recipe! Thanks!

My tomatoes haven't even started yet!!! Crazy.

CortneyTree said...

I've made those fries before, they are awesome, aren't they? And YUM, that pork sounds AMAZING, with the crispy garlic and the Almonds and that dressing??? I will definitely be trying that one!

Adam and Annie said...

Adam and I totally laughed at her chilling under the table! She is too much! I'm seeing more of Worth in her these days too...but of course she looks like you the most!

Julie said...

Sunday,
I can't wait to show these recipes to Seth. He is obsessed with his herb garden and loves using them in his cooking.

Ha....Seth just came in and said he saw Worth this morning in Hensons.

Anywho, I am going to add you to my blog roll thingy and we are definitely going to get together and hang out in person too. We would love to came along with y'all to one of your waterfall outings. Maybe that or something else......
I will figure it out.

MelissaCoates said...

Thanks for the recipes. JP and I will defiantly try them out. We are always looking for new ones to try out.

Look at BellaRose's teeth! At least she didn’t peal the maxi pads out of the wrapper and stick all over her...I am sure she will figure that out soon enough. Make sure to have the camera handy.

Unknown said...

My mouth is watering, we can't wait to cook again.
I'm gonna have to try your way of sweet potato fries, they sound delicious.
That girl is a sweet thing.

Anonymous said...

Look at you with all the basil knowlegdge! Your garden looks amazing and sounds yummy!

And BR! So cute indeed!

Becky Swann said...

You get us all hungry then through in the feminine products...:)