Being a self confessed Food Network junkie I have watched Bobby Flay for year and made a few of his dishes. Last fall I visited Mesa Grill while on a trip to NYC and was blown away by the flavor in all of the dishes.

When I came home I bought his Mesa Grill Cookbook, an updated version of the original one I had several years ago.

This weekend I decided to try the Yucatan Chicken Skewers With Red Cabbage Slaw and Peanut Red Chile BBQ sauce. I know, a mouthful! But it is a flavorful combination and would be a hit as an appetizer at a BBQ or as a dinner served as a quesadillo, taco or wrap.

It is not a quick recipe but a series of recipes, many of which can be made ahead.

The Mesa Grill BBQ Sauce is good on its own and is the base of several other recipes in his book.

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What a day! I have been wanting to make this cake for awhile now. Recently I have fallen in love with the simple tastes of Italian cake. Each time I have gone to make this I am missing some ingredient and have to postpone it. Finally, I have everything and I am ready.
I drop an egg on my kitchen rug! What a mess. I beat the egg whites, a bit too dry, I think but keep going. I place the cake in the oven and wait. I pull it out and let it cool. I take it out of the springform pan but it won’t come off the bottom. I set the cake on my cake plate so that I could take a few photos. I sliced a small piece and took a bite. The orange flavor was mild but nice. It was moist and I was thining about how I’d serve it tomorrow night.
Then I decided to move it to another counter.
It was like in slow motion, the cake slides off the pan and face down on my kitchen floor. It broke into several pieces and crumbled at my feet. As my nephew says…how sad for me.

But good for you I got that shot and took that bite. Hopefully yours will make it to the table!

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Special K cookies were part of my early adventures in the kitchen. I remember both my mom and my grandmother making them and getting to help.  It is a comfort cookie bringing back memories of my childhood.

Over the years we tried to dress them up with chocolate chips or nuts but the original version was always my favorite. At my grandmothers funeral I brought a batch for my family to eat as we shared memories.

A couple of weeks ago I made up a batch of them for the first time since that day. I brought them over to my niece and nephew not sure that they would like them. Well I was wrong, they loved them. Go ahead, make a batch for your family and see what they think.

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I had a big bunch of basil from the local market and decided to make a batch of pesto. I was thinking about what I could make with it and remembered several years ago I had made a grilled chicken with vegetables and orzo. You can always use store bought pesto, of course I am a bit partial to homemade.

I marinated the chicken for a few hours and then grilled on the stovetop. I also grilled the peppers and onions. Squash would be great with this recipe too.

I cooked some orzo and then topped with a bit more pesto, the vegetables and finished with the chicken. The fresh corn, peppers and tomatoes all in peak season are so flavorful and don’t need much to make for a great dinner.

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I think that this blog has documented I have a thing for limes. Sweet or savory dishes taste great with the addition of lime. A few summers back I was looking for something to bring to our annual 4th of July barbeque. On the Martha Stewart website I came across these cookies.

The cornmeal gives a crunch to these light cookies. It seems wrong to call cookies with two sticks of butter in them light, but they are. Light, crunch and tangy. The tart lime glaze tops these cookies off to perfection. This glaze would be great over a pound cake.

These take a bit of work but you will be rewarded when your friends fall in love with this cookies.

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I have had a few shrimp recipes waiting to be tried so I thought I would try both in one weekend. A little shrimp cook off shall we?

The first was from Cooking Light and featured a Jalapeno Lime Marinade. This one is easy. Marinade for a half hour and off to the grill. This one is light but spicy and tart. These would make great appetizers served on a skewer on a summer evening.

The other was Matthew Kenney’s Grilled Shrimp with Tomato Jam. The jam is sweet and spicy, based on a Moroccan condiment. In this recipe the jam is used as a marinade, thought I topped the shrimp with it as the very end of cooking. I served this with some grilled vegetables over brown rice. It made for a nice one dish meal. You can use the tomato jam

It probably isn’t fair to compare these two but they both have a place in my recipe book! My favorite would be the Kenney recipe because the Tomato Jam adds more depth and flavor to the dish.

If you have your own cookoff let me know what you think…

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Who doesn’t enjoy a good chocolate chip cookie? While visiting Joy the Baker last week she was testing out chocolate chip cookies based on an article in the New York Times. The author was advocating for refrigerating the dough 24 hours before cooking for the best cookie.

Looking at the site I saw they had added sea salt to the top of the cookies. I could barely contain my excitement… salty and chocolate. I was in the kitchen whipping up a batch minutes later.

I decided to try the recipe that went along with the article. It was by
Jacque Torres. I used regular chocolate chips, though I did try a small batch with cut up Valhrona chocolate. I also used white flour as opposed to bread flour.

I made a small batch after mixing and another 24 hours later. I will say the ones refrigerated 24 hours produced a more uniform cookie. I am thinking this would apply to most cookie dough. You can see Joy’s test of time here.

The hint of salt on top of the cookies makes for a flavorful bite!

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My aunt gave me this book called My Last Supper by Melanie Dunea. It features 50 top chefs and what they would chose for their last meal. It is a fun read and features recipes from each of the meals. Some of quite fancy and some are down to earth.

I am more on the down to earth side. My last meal would most likely be Italian and shared with family and friends. One of the chefs featured is Jamie Oliver and he chooses Spaghetti All’Arrabiata.

This is my favorite dish at Italian restaurants. I love a spicy tomato sauce. It is simple but flavorful. It is also extremely easy to make.

I had a friend coming over and had most of the ingredients on hand so I decided to give it a try. I did not have bread crumbs to make the pangrattato (bread crumb) topping he adds to his so that is left off. Also, I substituted penne for spaghetti.

Here is a little tip for the tomatoes- I take a pair of kitchen scissors and cut up the tomatoes while they are in the can still. It makes a more rustic sauce.

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Summer makes me crave tasty salads. With an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables it is easy to put together a light summer salad. When it is hot out the last thing you want to do is heat up your kitchen or cook over a hot stove.

One of my favorite salads is one from a cooking class I took with my friend Tracy many years ago at a Williams Sonoma. I do not know the author, so I apologize. We both fell in love with this salad and have served it many times over the years.

I love mango and the tangy dressing that goes with it. You could add some grilled chicken to it if you wanted a more substantial meal. I have been known to use the precut mango from Trader Joe’s for convenience.

Mixed Baby Greens with Honey Basil Dressing

Serves 4
8 cups mixed greens
1 large mango, peeled and sliced
1 large red onion peeled and thinly sliced, soak in a bowl of water so that there will not be a strong taste

Place the mixed greens on a plate, top with onions and finish with the mango.

Honey Basil Dressing

3/4 cup Champagne Vinegar
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp honey
Freshly ground pepper
Pinch of Kosher Salt
2 tbsp fresh sweet basil, chopped

In a blender, add all ingredients except the basil. Process until smooth. Add sweet basil and pulse only until basil is blended into dressing. Pour into a jar or a bowl and cover. Refrigerate until ready to use.

This morning I realized I had these wild blueberries that needed to be used. I searched my pantry for what I had and started looking for a recipe to match. The result was a moist Blueberry Coffee Cake.

It is easy to throw together, bake, pour yourself a cup of hot coffee and indulge!

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