The Pork Chops with Peppercorn Sauce recipe I made earlier this week made me wonder how else I could use pepper. A new way to make a gin and tonic? Absolutely! This Strawberry and Black Pepper Gin and Tonic simply had to be tried. Besides, it’s summer, and gin and tonics were made for sipping on hot summer days.
Pay homage to the romance and adventure that inspired Martin Miller’s Gin with the unusual yet delicious Strawberry and Black Pepper Gin and Tonic.
I had to do some hunting for Martin Miller’s gin, but I’m glad I found it. My usual store, Total Wine, didn’t have it in stock. They have such a huge selection that I figured no one else would have it, and I almost settled for another brand. Fortunately, I gave ABC a try, and voila! A 750 ml bottle was $24.99, which is pretty reasonable in my book.
The rest of the ingredients were easy. I had the black pepper (always), and my local grocery store had the strawberries and tonic water. I wish I could have found the elderflower flavor, but plain tonic was all they had. Next time I’m at Total Wine I’ll have an excuse to try the elderflower tonic water.
Gin, tonic water, strawberries, and pepper
The Process
I’m sure it’s not surprising that this cocktail was quick and easy to make. I had mine done in just 2 minutes. The instructions are very simple and straightforward and left no questions.
I decided to leave the leaves on the strawberries since they wouldn’t be eaten. Not removing them might have made the prep work a little faster, but I mostly did it because I thought it was pretty.
Oh, and about that 50mls of gin. It’s 1.5 ounces or a single shot in case you don’t have a measuring glass with milliliters.
The amount of tonic depends on the size of your glass and the amount of ice used. I didn’t measure it.
This week I had a craving for pork, and I chose this Pork Chops with Peppercorn Sauce recipe. I thought the blog it came from sounded familiar, and sure enough, I had blogged a review of one of her recipes in August 2017. It was Pork Loin with Wine and Herb Gravy, and it was just scrumptious. Even my husband loved it, and he is not big on pork. So after that incredible pork recipe from the same blogger, I had high hopes for these pork chops. I was not disappointed. Is there such a thing as a pork whisperer? Because I think I’ve found her.
This easy pork chop recipe is one of my favourites. The Peppercorn Sauce is plate-licking good and it’s perfect with the chops. It’s also very tweakable, by switching up the wine (or omitting it altogether) and adding as much pepper as you’re comfortable with.
Recipe Author: Jennifer at Seasons and Suppers Get the recipe
The Ingredients
There aren’t a ton of ingredients for this recipe, and I had all but three on hand. That left me to shop for the heavy cream, fresh thyme, and pork chops. The first two were easy to find and not all that exciting. The pork chops, however, were.
I found the thickest, loveliest center cut rib chops I’ve ever laid eyes on. They were easily an inch thick and maybe a touch more. Don’t believe me? They weren’t very big, but they were so thick that they were about a pound each.
The Process
Not surprisingly, this recipe is done in 2 parts: the pork chops and the sauce. Unfortunately, they can’t be prepared at the same time. This is a one-pan recipe and the drippings from the pork chops are used in the sauce. Even so, the entire process took just 33 minutes.
The Pork Chops
Preparing the pork chops was the first part of this recipe. The instructions include things like “sear until lightly golden” (Step 2) and brown on “the stove-top” (Step 3) but there are no guidelines to the times. I was very cautious about both of these as I didn’t want to burn and/or overcook the pork chops.
For Step 2, searing until golden, I preheated a cast-iron pan and fried the chops for 2 minutes per side. That gave them a nice golden color, and I popped the skillet into the oven for 12 minutes to bake. The recipe does say 10-12 minutes, but I went with 12 because the pork chops were so thick.
After baking, Step 3 said to brown the chops. They were golden brown after they came out of the oven, so it didn’t take much to brown them. Just 1 minute 30 seconds per side gave me the beautiful sear shown in the picture below.
Oh, and I completely forgot to brine my pork chops. I read the blog post, thought it sounded like a neat thing to try, and… The instructions on brining didn’t print with the recipe, and it was about a week between reading about brining and actually making the recipe. I totally forgot it in that week, but I still want to try it. Maybe (hopefully) next time.
The Sauce
Now it was time for the sauce. I opted to use 3 tablespoons of mixed peppercorns (red, white, and black) since I like spicy food. The ingredients call for crushed peppercorns, so I figured that grinding them in a pepper or spice grinder wasn’t the way to go here. Instead, I placed them into a ziplock bag and used a meat mallet to literally crush them.
The rest of the process went very smoothly, but I didn’t see any mention of the dijon mustard in the instructions. I chose to add it with the beef broth and thyme sprigs.
Another question I had was how long to simmer the sauce until it reduced. The instructions said “a few minutes”, so I simmered it for 4 minutes.
Finally, I had to mix up the cornstarch and water to thicken the sauce. The recipe says to use a ratio of 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to 1 tablespoon of water. I tried that and ended up with a solid cornstarch concoction. Doubling the water made the mixture more liquid and pourable. Adding about half of that to the sauce thickened it nicely.
When I made bulgogi a couple of weeks ago, I bought a couple of kiwi fruits for the marinade. I only used half of one and ended up eating the leftovers. I hadn’t had kiwi in ages, and now I’m wondering why not. It’s up there on my favorite fruits list, so I couldn’t pass up this Green Goddess Kiwi Cocktail recipe when I found it. I know it’s another green cocktail, but that’s where the similarities to last week’s Cucumber Vodka Soda end. This green cocktail promises to be something very different, and I can’t wait to try it!
I wish I could take credit for this refreshing combination of kiwi, gin, and elderflower liqueur but credit goes to the team at Peli Peli where I had the pleasure of trying out the latest offerings on the menu earlier this week.
Recipe Author: Nguyet at Taming the Spoon Get the recipe
The Ingredients
The Green Goddess Kiwi Cocktail uses gin and elderflower liqueur for the alcoholic ingredients. I chose my favorites for these: Hendrick’s and St. Germain. If you’ve never tried St. Germain, I recommend buying a small bottle. I bought a full-size bottle a few years ago and have barely used it. It’s not that I don’t like it, but most recipes don’t call for a lot as the flavor is quite strong. Larger liquor stores should carry smaller bottles.
The rest of the ingredients were pretty basic. I had the seltzer water in my refrigerator (always) and made the simple syrup (instructions are included with the recipe). That left me needing to buy the limes and kiwis. I love those short grocery lists!
Seltzer water, simple syrup, gin, lime, kiwi, and elderflower liqueur
The Process
This cocktail was very easy to make, and I had my first one done in 5 minutes, garnish and all. Not that a slice of kiwi to garnish was difficult.
You’ll need a few special tools for the best results. Here’s what and why:
Measuring Glass – Makes measuring the small amount of liquid easy
Muddler – The kiwi fruit needs to be crushed pretty thoroughly, and a muddler makes it easy to do this in the cocktail shaker
Cocktail Shaker – There’s just no other way to thoroughly blend and chill a cocktail all at once, plus the ice will help further crush the kiwi. A shaker is a must.
Cocktail Strainer – The kiwi pulp clogged the small holes in my cocktail shaker’s built-in strainer. You can skip straining the liquid if you like the pulp, but I opted to strain.
Citrus Reamer – Comes in handy to squeeze the lime, but it’s not a requirement
That’s it. Then all you need to do is follow the instructions and you’ll have a lovely cocktail in a few minutes.
I know I recently made a curry recipe (Scallops with Spicy Curry Sauce and Couscous), but I just had to give this Kofta Curry recipe a try. Why? Well, I’ve been craving beef, I adore curry, and this recipe has been getting mad repins. I don’t obsess over which pins are repinned, but every time I check this one has tons. It got my attention and shot this recipe to the top of my must blog recipe list. I mean, I’ve never blogged a meatball recipe, and a big part of this blog is trying new things, so… It’s time to dig through my pantry to see which ingredients I have and what I need to buy to make this recipe happen.
Kofta curry is a recipe for deliciously spiced traditional Pakistani meatballs, that are served in a creamy sauce and saffron rice.
Recipe Author: Vera Abitbol at 196 Flavors Get the recipe
The Ingredients
There are a lot of ingredients for this recipe! You know me, I keep tons of spices on hand, so I only had to buy the saffron (Yikes, that stuff is expensive!). That still left plenty of fresh produce, the ground beef, basmati rice, and yogurt. The list of items I needed really wasn’t so long. It just seemed that way after only needing a few things for recent recipes.
I got lucky and had just enough vegetable oil on hand to make this recipe. The rice alone calls for 7 tablespoons of oil, and you’ll need more to make the koftas and sauce. Adding a new bottle to your shopping list to be on the safe side might be a good idea.
There’s quite a bit to cover with this recipe, so let’s get to it! I started things off with prep work. After reading through the recipe, it sounded like there wouldn’t be time to prep during cooking, so I made sure everything was peeled, chopped, and measured out before I moved on to cooking.
Once I had most of the prep work done I was ready to start making the koftas. This step was very straightforward–just mix up all the ingredients and make them into meatballs, then chill them for 30 minutes. I did notice lots of extra onion left in the mixing bowl after I made the koftas. Even though I used small onions, chopped them finely and had less than the 2 cups listed. Still, there were just too many to mix into the ground beef.
While the koftas were chilling, I went ahead and peeled and crushed the tomatoes. This wasn’t nearly as difficult or time-consuming as I thought it would be. I found a couple of tutorials on peeling and seeding tomatoes that had lots of pictured and broke down both processes. Then I roughly chopped the tomatoes, placed the pieces in a ziplock bag, and used my hands to literally crush them.
Cooking the Koftas and Sauce
Finally, it was time to start cooking. Things went okay until I added the meatballs to the pan. Remember when I mentioned lots of leftover onions when I made the koftas? Well, about 1/3 of them fell apart while I was browning them. All the onion, cilantro, and hot pepper that I mixed in made them too delicate to handle. I started using a slotted spoon and switched to tongs once I realized what was happening. The tongs helped a lot, but next time I will reduce the mix-ins to make the meatballs more stable. Adding some egg might also work as a binder.
The chilled koftas
Trying to mix in the rest of the sauce ingredients caused more koftas to crumble, so I removed them from the skillet with a slotted spoon. After that, I was able to stir in the tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes. I returned the koftas to the pan to cook, but I had to remove them again so I could stir in the yogurt.
Oh, and speaking of pans, I used my 12' cast-iron pan for this recipe. I didn’t have any issues with sticking, but the pan was very crowded. Even if the koftas hadn’t been so delicate, I don’t think I would have had enough room to stir them with the sauce. My largest saute pan would have been a better choice. It’s about the same diameter but it’s deeper and the sized don’t slope, giving it more capacity.
Cooking the Saffron Rice
The first part of the koftas and the rice were very hands-on, so I wasn’t able to get started on the rice until the koftas were simmering. The rice went according to the instructions for the most part. The only time I got a little worried was when I was stirring it with the saffron threads. The rice hadn’t turned yellow after 5 minutes of stirring. Was my saffron defective? Nope, the yellow came out when I added the boiling water. Disaster averted LOL.
Now for the bad news: this recipe took much longer than the 1 hour 15 minutes listed. I spent 1 hour 52 minutes on it. That includes all the prep work, the koftas, sauce, and saffron rice. But man, was it worth it!
After the yummy Lemon Turmeric Skillet Chicken I just made, I’m still in the mood for more turmeric. (I also feel like there’s a ‘more cowbell’ joke in there too…) Turmeric Curcumin is an excellent anti-inflammatory, and I cook with it a lot. I was really intrigued when I happened upon this Turmeric Latte recipe. I know, turmeric drinks aren’t that unusual, but I’ve never had or made one. That’s about to change.
I always need something a little sweet to end the day. I often try and make that just a peppermint and liquorice tea, but that doesn’t always hit the spot, especially when I’m craving chocolate! The problem with that is the caffeine in the dark chocolate I crave doesn’t make for great sleep, and even a healthy hot chocolate can give me too much of a lift to drift off to sleep easily. I needed something new, something a little sweet but not so sweet that it would impact my sleep. Enter the Turmeric Latte!
Recipe Author: Laura Agar Wilson at Wholeheartedly Laura Get the recipe
The Ingredients
I really lucked out on this recipe and had all but one ingredient on hand. Which one was I missing? The unsweetened almond milk. I had the turmeric and other spices, palm sugar, and coconut oil in my pantry. It’s like they were just waiting for me to make this turmeric latte recipe.
Almond milk, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, palm sugar, and coconut oil
The Process
Making this recipe went smoothly until I got to step 2 and tried to froth my latte. I don’t think this was the recipe’s fault at all! It left how to froth the latte up to me, and I had to try several to get the results you see pictured. What did I try? I’m glad you asked:
Shaking in a sealed container – I’ve made lattes using my Snapware before, but this time it got messy. The container (3.01 cup size) actually leaked. I was shocked! I’ve dropped sealed Snapware many times and it’s never leaked.
Mini-prep – This method also leaked. The Miniprep bowl was just too small even for a single latte.
Blender – This did the trick. About 90 seconds on the puree setting frothed my latte nicely.
After all this, my latte was cold and my countertop was spotted with yellow from the spills. I had to make a second one to get an accurate time to make it from start to finish. Using the microwave to heat the almond milk and the blender to froth the latte took 4 minutes.
I love chicken thighs, but I don’t get to make them very often because my husband doesn’t like them. They’re something I save for either lunch or when he travels without me. Then I break out all the food he doesn’t like and party! Well, not so much the party part LOL. He recently went on a guy’s trip, and I immediately knew I needed to make chicken thighs while he was away. This Lemon Turmeric Skillet Chicken was an easy choice. Lemon is always good with chicken, and I try to eat turmeric often for the anti-inflammatory benefits. So I missed my hubby for a couple of days, but I had a new recipe to keep my mind off it. We both had fun 🙂
This chicken recipe is simple, delicious, and packs some amazing anti-inflammatory benefits! Try this yummy Lemon Turmeric Skillet Chicken Recipe.
This recipe promised to be simple, and I have to agree. There aren’t a ton of ingredients, and about half of them are pantry staples. I had all of the spices and the olive oil on hand. I also had some chicken bouillon powder, and I used that to make the chicken broth instead of buying it.
That left the fresh items for my weekly grocery list. I had to buy the chicken thighs, garlic, lemon, and parsley. Not too bad as far as shopping lists go.
I have to say this recipe was super easy to prepare. Seasoning the chicken thighs with the spice mix was the most labor-intensive part, and that only took a few minutes. And, by the way, loosening the skin to add the spices underneath added a lot of flavor to this dish.
One thing to note, though, is the spice mix will stain your fingers because of the turmeric. In fact, I don’t keep my fingernails painted, and they were pretty yellow, even though I washed my hands immediately after seasoning the chicken. You might want to wear gloves for this part of the recipe.
Once the chicken was seasoned, it’s into a hot skillet to fry, then you make the sauce by deglazing the pan afterward. Finally, the chicken has to bake for just over half an hour (I used my 12-inch cast-iron pan for all steps). I prepared plain white rice while the chicken baked, and they were ready at almost the same time.
When it was all said and done, I had a truly tasty meal that was easy to prepare. The instructions were clear and easy to follow. It also came in right on time at just under an hour. Here is how the time broke down:
10 minutes to prep
8 minutes to fry the chicken
35 minutes to bake the chicken
5 minutes to rest after removing from the oven
58 minutes total
As you can see, most of the time for this recipe is spent baking in the oven, so there isn’t a ton of active time. It really made it feel quicker than an hour to prepare.
After the Scallops with Spicy Curry Sauce and Couscous I just made, I needed something cooling. Mango immediately came to mind, and this Mango Pudding recipe sounded like exactly what I wanted. A cold dessert made with mango and coconut milk. Ah! It promises to be a sweet dessert that will be a nice foil to that spicy curry. Plus I’ve never made pudding before, and I always like to try new things.
This rich and silky dessert is bursting with luscious mango flavor. The simplicity of this pudding recipe makes it great for company.
Recipe Author: Lily Ernst at Little Sweet Baker Get the recipe
The Ingredients
One really nice thing about living in South Florida is there are mango trees everywhere. If you’ve only ever had mangoes from the grocery store, you are missing out. Fresh mangoes right off the tree taste so much better.
Unfortunately, mango season isn’t quite here, and I had to go to the grocery store route for this recipe. I decided to shop at Whole Foods this week, and I was pleasantly surprised by how good their mangoes were. Literally just like freshly picked!
The mangoes were only a few dollars (I bought 3 since they were small), and so were the rest of the ingredients. Actually, the only other items I had to buy were the unflavored gelatin and coconut milk. I had the sugar and salt on hand.
Mangoes, sugar, coconut milk, salt, and unflavored gelatin
The Process
I’ve never made pudding before, and I have to say it was pretty easy to do. It did take much longer than the time listed–22 minutes as opposed to the 10 minutes on the recipe.
The first step was to cut up the mangos. My mango corer came in very handy for this part. I cut up 2 mangoes and pureed them in my blender. It took a while because I kept having to stop and stir the mango. I had to stir it several times before it started to liquefy. Unfortunately, that didn’t quite give me enough mango puree. I had to add another half mango to the mixture.
Cutting up the mangoes so they can be pureed
After that, the recipe went pretty smoothly. I did shake the can of coconut milk, but I had clumps of fat even after thoroughly. I decided to strain the pudding mixture using a colander with large holes to ensure a smooth pudding (a finer mesh sieve would have clogged). It worked a treat!
I ended up with about 2 cups of pudding and split that between 4 small ramekins. I didn’t quite get the mixture split evenly, and the last ramekin was noticeably less full than the others. Turkey baster to the rescue! It made it neat and easy to remove the liquid from the fuller dishes and evenly distribute the pudding.
After that, I covered the dishes with plastic wrap and let them chill overnight. The next day, I used the leftover mango and some unsweetened shredded coconut flakes to garnish the mango pudding.
I found a great deal on huge scallops and immediately went on the hunt for a recipe. I had pinned several recipes that sounded amazing, so it was a tough choice. Scallops are a bit of a luxury for us, and I wanted the recipe I chose to be spectacular. After a lot of back and forth, I settled on Scallops with Spicy Curry Sauce and Couscous. It used the exact number of scallops I bought, it was a complete meal, and my husband and I love curry. Curried scallops look incredibly good!
You’ve never had scallops quite like this before! The spicy curry sauce gives this scallop dish an extra creamy kick and the bed of couscous ties it all together!
Recipe Author: Julie Wampler at Table for Two Get the recipe
The Ingredients
After I lucked out and got 8 ginormous scallops for just over $12, I only had to buy a couple of things for this recipe. My super-short grocery list was couscous and coconut milk.
And it turns out I didn’t need to buy the couscous since I already had some in my pantry. Too bad I didn’t realize that until after my trip to the grocery store. Oh well. Couscous isn’t expensive, and it will be used eventually.
This recipe for curried scallops went somewhat smoothly, and I had it ready in 25 minutes. Making the couscous went very smoothly, but there were a couple of pain points.
First, I seared the scallops in a cast-iron pan, and some of them stuck. A lot. As you can see in the picture below, some of the sear peeled off a few when I flipped the scallops after 3 minutes. For reference, most meat I sear in this pan releases after 2 minutes or so.
My pan is well-seasoned, and I was so surprised this happened. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I recommend a non-stick pan for this recipe. Scallops are just too delicate to risk. And yes, you can sear in nonstick pans if you make sure they are thoroughly heated before adding your scallops (give it 5 minutes or so after you turn on the heat).
The next difficulty came when I drizzled the curry sauce over the scallops and couscous. It was very thin and immediately dripped off the scallops and disappeared into the couscous. So much so that I had a hard time telling I had added the sauce at all.
To solve the problem, I heated the sauce in my microwave. Then I made a cornstarch slurry with hot water and added it to the sauce until it thickened. The cornstarch didn’t affect the taste of the sauce, and the thicker sauce clung to the scallops. This step added about 5 minutes to the recipe’s total time and can be skipped if you don’t mind thin sauce.
Burnt residue from searing the scallops in my cast iron pan. A nonstick pan would be a better choice for delicate scallops.
When I decided to make the Swiss Pan Burgers with Rosemary-Mushroom Pan Sauce as this week’s entree, I knew I would have leftover rosemary. A quick perusal of my pins with rosemary and I happened upon this Rosemary Lemon Cream Soda. I had to try it! I like cream soda and herb-infused lemonade, but I never thought to combine the two. Alisa at Contemplating Sweets has, and I’m so glad I found her blog. She is my new hero!
This lemonade has been kicked up a notch with the addition of rosemary simple syrup, sparkling water, and a dash of cream. The result is an herby, fizzy, tangy, yet creamy drink that is perfect for the upcoming summer weather.
Recipe Author: Alisa at Contemplating Sweets Get the recipe
The Ingredients
This recipe had the typical lemonade ingredients plus heavy cream. It was still a short list of inexpensive ingredients that were all easy to find at my usual grocery store. No special orders or extra trips required.
One thing to note while you’re shopping is how many of these cream sodas you are planning to make. I got about three tablespoons of juice from each lemon I bought (enough for 1 1/2 cream sodas). They were pretty big, and I used an electric juicer to make sure I extracted all the juice. You may need more lemons if they are small or if you plan to squeeze them by hand.
Lemons, sparkling water, heavy cream, rosemary, and sugar
The Process
This cream soda is sweetened with rosemary-infused simple syrup. It’s super easy to make, though it does need to be made ahead of time so it can chill. I guess a couple of hours would be sufficient, but I chilled mine overnight because life happened.
Once the simple syrup was chilled it was time to make my cream soda. I used the measurements listed and didn’t feel the need to adjust them. My cream soda was perfection!
Most of the time to make this recipe was spent waiting for the rosemary sprigs to steep in the simple syrup. The rest was making the actual drink. Here’s is how the time broke down:
37 minutes to make the simple syrup
2 minutes to make the cream soda
39 minutes total (not including time to chill the simple syrup)
It’s been a while since I’ve had a burger, so this Swiss Pan Burgers with Rosemary-Mushroom Pan Sauce got my attention. A burger made with Fresh rosemary, mushrooms, and Swiss cheese that can be cooked on one pan? Yes, please! Not that I’m downing outdoor grilling, but it’s nice to be able to make a burger indoors when the weather isn’t cooperating. So let’s get started on this recipe and find out if it tastes as good as it sounds.
Swiss Pan Burgers with Rosemary-Mushroom Pan Sauce is an easy yet elegant 20 minute meal made in just one skillet.
I like to avoid processed foods as much as possible, and this recipe is packed with fresh ingredients. I had to buy most of them because of that, but I didn’t mind. There weren’t a ton of ingredients for this recipe, and they were all easy to find at my regular grocery store. Additionally, nothing was unusually expensive.
Making these Swiss pan burgers was done in three parts:
Pan-frying the burgers
Making the rosemary-mushroom pan sauce
Assembling the burgers
The whole process went pretty quickly, making this an easy weeknight meal. Here is how the time broke down:
10 minutes to prep
21 minutes to cook
2 minutes to assemble
33 minutes total
Pan-frying the Burgers
This part of the process took a little chopping and mixing, followed by making the patties. I lined a small round container with plastic wrap to use as a mold. Then I divided the ground beef mixture into quarters and pressed each into the mold with a ramekin. The plastic wrap made removing the burger patties from the mold easy, especially since I sprayed it with a little cooking oil between each patty.
I cooked the burgers for five minutes per side since they were pretty thick. They ended up being medium-well done but still juicy. I prefer my burgers a little rarer, so I’ll try reducing the cooking time to four minutes per side next time.
The last part of this step was to add the Swiss cheese slices. The instructions don’t say exactly when to add the cheese, so I put it on during the last two minutes. That was a little too long, and some cheese melted into the pan (it was easy to clean up though). Next time I’ll try adding the cheese during the last minute of cooking since it will melt more after the burgers are removed from the pan.
Making the Rosemary-Mushroom Pan Sauce
The pan sauce was very easy to make and went according to the directions. One tip I will offer is to increase the heat to high once you add the beef broth. I kept it at a rolling boil, and it reduced perfectly. I ended up with mushrooms in a thick sauce that didn’t drench the buns.
Assembling the Burgers
My husband doesn’t like his hamburger buns toasted, but I do. This ended up being a nice experiment to see which would hold up better. The toasted bun won; the untoasted bun fell apart.
One last thing–these burgers don’t need any other toppings. Yes, my husband asked if he should add them, but I suggested he try without first. He agreed after his first bite that adding anything would be a crime. The pan sauce was that good!
Last week’s Grilled Salmon with Creamy Cucumber-Dill Salad recipe reminded me how much I like recipes that include a main and a side. They make meal planning so much easier, and I’m all for that! That’s why I chose Skillet Garlic Lemon Butter Chicken for this week’s recipe. Well, not the only reason–it does sound delicious. And I get to use my cast-iron pan, which has become my newest kitchen obsession. I lost my mom’s cast iron skillets in one of our moves, so it’s been a long time since I used one. I forgot how wonderful cast iron is, especially for searing meat.
An easy skillet garlic lemon butter chicken recipe that you can make in a flash! The chicken is dusted with parmesan and flour so it’s nice and crispy, the veggies are cooked in the same pan so it’s easy to clean up. And the lemon butter sauce is to die for! What’s not to love?
Recipe Author: Marzia at Little Spice Jar Get the recipe
The Ingredients
Besides being a complete meal, another thing I liked about this recipe was how few ingredients there are and that many are pantry basics. I had to shop for the chicken breasts, fresh produce, and parmesan cheese. The rest was already in my pantry, so my grocery list was pretty short this week.
Oh, and I bought four lemons to be on the safe side. I wasn’t sure how many I would need to get a 1/4 cup of lemon juice. It turns out that I only needed 2 (they were pretty large).
Boneless skinless chicken breasts, parmesan cheese, butter, olive oil, green beans, flour, salt pepper, garlic powder, garlic, lemons, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes
The Process
The instructions divide making this recipe into three parts: making the chicken, making the garlic butter sauce, and assembling everything. Each section was easy to follow, and I didn’t have any head-scratching moments of confusion.
First up was breading and frying the chicken. That was very straightforward, and I was able to make the garlic butter sauce while the chicken was frying. I even had the sauce done by the time the chicken breasts were ready.
Next up was cooking the green beans. This was done with slices of lemon, which gave the green beans a lovely flavor. I cooked mine for a minute longer than what was listed (6 minutes) because I like my green beans a little more well done. They were still a bit crunchy, though, and nowhere close to soggy.
When the beans were done, I piled them onto a platter along with the lemon slices. Then I added the chicken breasts and spooned the sauce over everything.
After the Grilled Salmon with Creamy Cucumber-Dill Salad I just made, I’ve been obsessed with cucumber. Plus it’s been in the mid- to high-80s lately, so some cool refreshment is definitely needed. Enter the Cucumber Vodka Soda. Vodka is my liquor of choice and this cocktail features it along with my new obsession. Perfection!
THIS here juice (yes, let’s call it juice) is so super refreshing on that hot summer day. It’s light, it’s cold, it quenches your thirst, it doesn’t make you feel terrible like a few beers or one margarita might. It’s everything your summer wants! It told me so.
I had the vodka and seltzer water on hand, along with some sugar to make a batch of simple syrup (recipe below). That left me needing the seedless cucumbers and limes in order to make this cocktail. It took 3 cucumbers and 4 limes. The limes, of course, weren’t expensive, but the cucumbers were at $3.49 each. Could regular cucumbers be used? I would think so, but I haven’t tried them in this recipe. Yet 😉
Seedless cucumbers, vodka, seltzer water, limes, and simple syrup
The Process
The first step was to puree the cucumbers in my blender. I didn’t need to peel or see the cucumbers, but I did cut them into smaller pieces. Then I added a piece or two at a time to make sure the blender didn’t clog up.
I added a couple of tablespoons of water and had cucumber juice in a matter of minutes. Then I put the puree into a mesh strainer to drain. Some liquid came out, but I had to use a wooden spoon to press the puree against the sides of the strainer to get it all.
After that, I juiced the limes and mixed up everything except the seltzer in a large glass pitcher. I let that chill in the refrigerator for an hour then added the seltzer water and gave it a taste test. It was marvelous!
The entire process took just over an hour:
13 minutes to prep
1 hour to chill
1 hour 13 minutes total
Straining the pureed cucumber
Simple Syrup
The Hungry Pinner
A quick and easy-to-make staple of any well-stocked bar. This recipe yields approximately 12 ounces of simple syrup.
