Sunday, April 26, 2009

Honey BBQ chicken breast & Grilled Pears w/ vanilla mascarpone sauce

Honey BBQ chicken breast & grilled pears w/ vanilla mascarpone

This is not a food blog, but I am a big fan of food. I read my friend Josh's & his wife's blog here and they are cooking freaks. I like to cook, but today's credit goes to Alene.

I've been VERY busy with work since Friday, putting in 12 hour days friday/saturday and having to go into work today for a few hours as well. Alene had this free grilling pamphlet from Wild Oats that she had been wanting to try out a few things from. This stuff was AMAZING. The BBQ sauce really candied up to the chicken breast well and the pears were surprisingly good. One thing I learned from this about chicken is that you don't add the BBQ sauce until the end of cooking them (I'm embarrassed to admit I never knew that). I was always big on marinating my chicken in the sauce for a while, but the booklet said that it makes the sauce burn, rather than candy up to the meat. While I was working Alene prepared the chicken, the sauces and the pears and all I had to do was grill when I walked in.

The pears were amazing too. You cut them in half and scoop out the insides, then you grill them with this great butter/honey/cinnamon sauce. Then you grill them and when they come off the grill, you top them with some amazing mascarpone.

Here are a few more pictures and the recipe (if anyone is interested).

The honey BBQ sauce (There was WAY too much left over, so we'll use it for future BBQing; likely enough for 10 chicken breasts really)
Honey BBQ Sauce

Honey BBQ chicken breast & grilled pears w/ vanilla mascarpone

RECIPES

Honey BBQ chicken

2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups of ketchup
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup molasses
1/2 cup honey
1 tbsp chile powder
1 tbsp black pepper
6 chicken breast halves, bone-in & skin on (we just did regular skinless chicken breasts)
1 tbsp coarse kosher salt
1/2 tbsp black pepper

Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the next seven ingredients. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook slowly for 20 minutes; until the sauce thickens. Prepare a medium-hot fire on the grill. Mix salt and pepper together. Sprinkle over chicken breasts and under the skin. grill chicken about 10 minutes per side or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. Reserve 1 cup BBQ sauce (There was PLENTY, so not sure what the reserve is for). Brush chicken lightly with remaining sauce and cook for 2 minutes each side.

Grilled pears with vanilla mascarpone


6 ripe but firm pears, halved and cored
4 tbsp un-salted butter
2 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
8 oz mascarpone cheese (we used ricotta cheese because we couldn't find mascarpone)
1 vanilla bean
1 tbsp honey
1 pint fresh raspberries (I don't like raspberries, so Alene didn't add any for this. I feel bad because I know she likes them)

Prepare a medium-hot fire in the grill. Slice vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape out seeds' stir into mascarpone. Mix in 1 tsp vanilla extract and honey. Chill until needed. Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in cinnamon, sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Brush over pears. Place pears cut side down on grill. Grill 4 minutes per side (we ended up doing about 5 minutes per side). Remove and spoon a dollop of mascarpone onto each pear. Garnish with rasperries or cherry sauce.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

It's about TIME!!!

Why do we waste so much time with these guys? What I don't get is that we had snipers on these guys for days and at any time we could have taken them out. Why wait this long? Why show all the other would-be pirates that they too can hijack a ship, hope for millions in ransom, and they can stick it out for a while while we hand deliver them food and supplies?

Why not SHOW these would-be pirates how they will be treated EVERY TIME they decide to hijack a ship. There is no necessary trial for them. There is not chance they were innocent. TAKE THEM OUT. I know it's a life, but there are far more valuable lives of those that choose to NOT be pirates (i.e. the captain and every other vessel that's been taken over).

Click here for the story

Sunday, April 05, 2009

All babies look the same....

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That's a bunch of BS. I love Bailey to death. I love spending time with her. I love that she loves her mommy so much (and more than me, but it's OK). I was able to spend a good portion of Saturday with her while Alene was at work. She is so beautiful and amazing. I was just looking at pictures from her birth. The thing that is great is that even as a new baby I can recognize so many prominent features of my darling little girl. Especially her "crying" face, as little as she cries.

I loved spending the time with her and playing with her. I love her HUGE grin she gives off. I cannot imagine the void I'd have without her in my life. My baby girl is growing so fast too. She pulls herself up on EVERYTHING she can. She's playful and witty. She wants to try everything. She is so aware of everything. Today Alene and I were in the back yard playing catch with a football and she would follow that ball in the air back and forth to each of us. She stared with total curiosity, but was able to follow every throw back and forth. It was so cute.

Also, she's good at peekaboo in case you missed it, click HERE.

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I will recognize this sleeping face for the rest of my days.

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Daddy loves you Bailey.