Girasoles

Friday night the Skillings headed to Girasoles in Watkinsville to have a nice, quiet family dinner.  HA HA!  We really went to eat, drink, and be merry in a small little restaurant a few minutes away from home.  At one point I looked around and we were by far the loudest, most obnoxious people in there!  We have frequented their Sunday brunch and most recently their dinner.  Up until a few years ago they had a secret weapon that wasn't even listed on the menu...the VIP platter!  You had to know someone who knew someone who once ordered the VIP to order it.  Well, I guess the secret got out because the VIP is now on the menu!  You tell the chef how many people will share the VIP and he surprises you with a plethora of entrees.  We went all out Friday night and ordered VIP for 7 adults!  That included bread, salad, 2 appetizers, entrees, and dessert!  We literally ran out of space on the table.  We didn't even put a dent in the food and had enough leftovers for 5 people to eat lunch Saturday!  It is definitely a special treat!  Here are the best photos I could get:

A brief run-down of our entrees: swai stuffed with crab, shrimp linguine, filet with blue cheese/mushrooms, creamed spinach, steamed vegetables, roasted potatoes, gnocchi, lamb chops, mahi mahi with peaches, peanut chicken & scallops

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

We are cooped up in our house on a rainy day and decided that a warm soup would be great for lunch.  This recipe is a conglomeration of several we found on the web, with a standard Skilling addition - BACON!

Ingredients:

1 medium onion - chopped 

1/4 stick of butter

one clove fresh garlic - minced

2/3 heads of broccoli - chopped (fresh or frozen)

1 Tb black pepper

2 cups 2% milk

1quart chicken broth

1/2 cup flour 

1 slice bacon - diced 

8oz grated cheddar cheese

 Cook the butter and onion for about 3-5 minutes on medium heat until the onions soften up and then add the garlic, pepper, broccoli (we had some frozen and some fresh and used both), chicken broth, and bacon (cooked and diced).  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to cook the broccoli for about 20 minutes uncovered.  Mix the milk and flour with a whisk (this worked better with warm or room temp milk) separately.  Once the broccoli is cooked through and soft, add the milk and flour and then we used a hand blender to puree the soup to a uniform consistency.  Warm the soup up, and then slowly add and stir the cheddar so that it will not clump.  We did not need to add any salt, probably because of the bacon.  This turned out to be very tasty and was a perfect soup on a rainy and lazy Saturday.

Huevos Rancheros

Rachel was watching Paula Deen's show the other day and saw her son Jamie make one of his favorite breakfast dishes - Huevos Rancheros...so we decided to try it out.  We had to substitute some ingredients but the end result was AMAZING!  This is our new favorite breakfast.

Ingredients:
Tortillas(corn or flour)
refried beans
salsa
pablanos / jalepenos
meat (any kind - original recipe calls for chorizo)
eggs - sunny side up
queso fresco (Jamie's recipe calls for this)

Directions:
First warm salsa in a frying pan and add you meat of choice (we had a left over hamburger and chopped it up in there).  The goal here is to get the salsa thickened up.  We added sweet onion and pablano to the mix.  Once this is thick, turn off the heat.  At the same time put a little olive oil in a pan and brown the flour tortilla.  We warmed the refried beans in the microwave and started frying up the egg.  At the end, things are a little hectic but put the breakfast together in the following order.  Tortilla, refried beans, salsa / meat sauce, and then add the egg on top... We added a little chipotle tabasco and had a mango that needed to be eaten so we threw that on the side.(Matt made his with corn tortillas and had a little fun playing with his plate).

Thanks Paula!!

Matt's plate...

Small Town Goodness

Small Town Goodness is the little cookbook that Culloden, GA put out in 2009.  Mom worked hours and hours on it helping get all of the recipes typed up in time to print.  I think some of you who read this blog even made contributions to the cookbook.  That year she gave me a copy for Christmas.  Lately I've been in a dinner rut.  I called my friend and fellow foodie, Ali, who was unfortunately experiencing the same thing!  I thumbed through the Culloden cookbook hoping to find some sort of inspiration for this week.  Luckily our dear friend (and former owner of the Farm), Nanny C Haygood, came to the rescue!  She is 98 years old, has lived in the Culloden, GA area almost her entire life, and is a true Georgia peach!  I can think of some good one-liners she's said to us over the years...most of which I can't repeat on this blog!  ;-)  Tonight I am making her "Broccoli & Chicken Casserole".  This is really similar to Rachel's "Aunt Glad's Chicken Divan" and equally as delicious!  Here's Nanny C's recipe:

1 package of Pepperidge Farm herb stuffing mix
1/2 cup butter (1 stick) melted
2 can cream of chicken
1 cup mayo
1 tsp lemon juice
3 packages of frozen broccoli (10 oz each), cooked
5 large chicken breasts, cooked and finely chopped
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Brown stuffing mix in butter in large skillet.  Blend soup, mayonnaise, and lemon juice in a small bowl.  Layer broccoli, chicken, and soup mixture in a 9 x 13 Pyrex dish.  Sprinkle with stuffind mix, top with cheese.  Bake at 400 for 30 minutes or until bubbly. 

*Note: this recipe makes a LOT of food.  I cut it in half using 3 chicken breasts.  Nanny C also suggests making the whole dish and separating it into 2 pans.  You can cook one and freeze the other!  Thaw completely before baking. 

One of the things I love about cooking is you can take a recipe and make it your own!  I used low fat cream of chicken and 2% milk cheese to save some of the fat.  I forgot to buy the stuffing mix at the store and was in a pinch tonight.  I took some frozen ciabatta bread out of the freezer, cubed it, and sprinkled it with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, dried oregano, and dried basil.  Bake or broil them until brown and then use them to top the casserole!  I hope Nanny C would be proud! 

Keys Please!

That's what we say when we are ready to go to the in the Keys!  One might also get the "Keys Disease" when they are a few days away from their vacation.  :)  One of our favorite things to do when we are vacationing is outdoor/water activities.  While it is technically still lobster season, the water temperature in Florida was not as warm as it is in July & August!  We decided to allow the lobster a few more months to mature until we are ready to catch them again next summer! 

We were fortunate to go on a fishing charter last Sunday for the day.  I decided that it wasn't too much for me to put up with 5 other fishermen, 1 first mate (also male), and Captain Steve.  The boys were very courteous to me and allowed me to catch the first fish!  Luckily about halfway through the day we ran into a school of dolphin (Mahi Mahi) and caught a few keepers! 

Mom & Dad's friend, Phil, is an excellent cook and Frank got a couple of shots of him grilling the filets.  I wanted to share Phil's recipe for grilling the fish.  Here's what he used for the marinade: soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, lime zest, and garlic.  The fish marinaded for a couple of hours and then he grilled them to perfection!  We served it with some Asian slaw, roasted red potatoes, and garlic bread! 

The delicious Mahi Mahi!

                      

Dinner guests: some of the Miami Police Veterans Association members 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yummy, Easy Casserole!

Guest blogger, Mama E. here--with an easy casserole that's great for guests.  It's a one dish wonder that can be made ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator until it's time to bake it and eat it.  Thanks to my friend, Tedi, who introduced me to:

Chicken and Wild Rice Supreme

We served ours with broccoli and garlic bread

from Southern Living 1979 Annual Recipes

Original: Peggy Kettell Spanish Fort, Alabama

Tweaked Version:  Tedi Hahn

Ingredients:

1 6 oz. pkg. wild rice

1 8 oz pkg. of sliced fresh mushrooms

¼ cup butter

1 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup chicken broth

1 tsp. seasoned salt

2 cups cubed cooked chicken

1 tsp. chopped parsley

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

(Tedi adds Swiss cheese)

Prepare rice according to package directions.

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan; add onion and mushrooms and cook until transparent.  

Blend in flour, and cook 1 minute.  

Gradually add cream and broth; cook, stirring constantly, until thickened.  

Stir in cheddar cheese, salt and pepper.  

Add rice, chicken, and parsley.  

Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 2 quart casserole.  

Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly. 

If desired, add swiss cheese to the top of the casserole in the last 10 minutes. 

When reheating leftovers, you may need to add a couple of tablespoons of milk or cream to the dish to keep chicken moist and of course add another layer of Swiss cheese to the top!

  

Makes 6 servings