Green Thumbs (Hopefully!)

I'm pulling for you, little parsley buddy.

Paul and I decided to restock our sad and dying herbs. I had over-picked, under-watered, and then (oops) left them to dry out during our 90+ degree hot spell last week. We had like one sad yellowy-green sprig of Italian parsley left (see above), and a very dried out rosemary plant. The basil had long ago kicked the bucket. 

While we were grocery shopping this weekend, we found fresh herbs that could be easily sustained (no potting) and picked up a few more: basil, Italian parsley and some cilantro.

Of course, we got all motivated then -- and decided to buy some tomato plants, plant some garlic, as well as try to "save" the sad Italian parsley and the rosemary. What are we, some sort of horticultural Florence Nightingale? This will be the true test of if we're any good at keeping things alive. 

Our ill-fated tomato plants. 

P.S. I'm already concerned about leaving them when we travel at the beginning of July for a couple days. It's so soon after we got them! Are they going to be okay with out me? Should I have someone come check in on them? Reality check, Christine: they are plants. They cost $2. If they bite it, it'll be okay. Killing plants? Not anything new around here.

June 6: Grilled Lobster Tail with Mediterranean-style Bok Choy

One of the great things that has come from us doing this blog (and by default, talking about it) is that we get great new ideas and cooking advice from our friends and people we meet. Paul had picked up two lobster tails at the grocery store, switching things up a little bit from our regular once a week salmon habit. We just happened to meet up with some friends at Maifest who had experience grilling lobster tails and were able to give us some helpful instructions for preparing and cooking them.

I'm glad Paul was paying attention during that conversation. I was focused on my German beer.

Paul cut open the shells, and pulled them back to reveal the lobster meat inside. Inside one of the lobster tails, there was this weird green stuff. I spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out if I was going to die. In the meantime, Paul was busy washing it off. I think it was the tomalley (the liver). Whatever it was -- I clearly made it to blog another day.

After Paul split open the shell, he basted the meat with melted butter and minced garlic. While Paul cooked the lobster tails on the grill, I started on the side of bok choy, Mediterranean style.

I separated the stems from the leaves, and chopped them both. The stems take a little longer to cook than the leaves, so I put them on a couple minutes ahead.

Bok Choy sauted with a little olive oil.

At the very end of the recipe, you add capers, chopped black olives, and minced garlic and cook for just a few seconds.

We had only half a head of bok choy, so we cut the other ingredients in half as well.

After you turn the heat off the bok choy, you top it with either balsamic vinegar or lemon juice. I went with balsamic vinegar.

Paul cooked the lobster tails on a medium hot grill for 4 - 5 minutes on each side.

Hello, buttery, garlicky goodness.

And shown paired with the Mediterranean bok choy side.

We were going for speed, not cleanliness here. Sorry, folks.

Overall, I was pleased with our first foray into lobster tail cooking. The lobster tasted deliciously buttery and was the perfect amount of meat (for me). We had been told (repeatedly) that undercooked lobster was better than overcooked lobster, so we erred on the side of caution in terms of length of cooking. I thought the bok choy was a little salty -- between the capers and the olives, and then topping it with the balsamic vinegar, I guess that wasn't too surprising.

But I have a sad confession to make. I'm not sure I like lobster. (Eek. I know.) I love me some buttery and garlicky stuff (bread, shrimp, pasta), so I figured I'd be all over this. I have some issues with texture, especially with seafood and meat, so I'm thinking that may have been my problem. While it tasted really good, I struggled with the consistency a little. At first, I asked about cooking it more -- but Paul thought it would become rubbery, which I imagine would make it pretty much inedible.

I'm not ready to give up. Now I'm thinking -- lobster bisque? Lobster paella? Some sort of seafood bake? Gonna get back on the (sea) horse.

June 5: Grilled Beer-Butt Chicken with Baked Potatoes and Chioggia Beet Salad

Beer Butt Chicken. Such a lovely concept. We have heard that it is some of the most flavorful and most chicken there is. Since the weather was so great last Sunday, we decided to make a 2 lbs. bird. We followed this recipe that we found online.

We heated up the grill, and made the spice mixture -- both to baste the chicken with and to put inside the can of beer. Half the mixture went inside the can of beer, and the other half was left for us to baste the chicken periodically.


Melted butter, paprika, garlic salt, salt and pepper mix for basting.



"Discard half the beer." What are they, bananas? We're talking BANQUET BEER here. Paul took care of the "discarding."

We had some issues getting the chicken to fit standing up inside our grill. Not to get too graphic, but essentially the entire beer can had to be crammed inside the chicken in order for it to fit upright in the grill. Sorry, chicken. I didn't want it to be this way either.

Photo documentation:

He looks kind of sad. We put the baked potatoes in front of him in case he tipped over.

Alongside the chicken, we decided to make baked potatoes (cooked on the grill in front of the chicken), and a raw beet salad. We had received these cool looking Chioggia beets in our produce basket the week before.

WHOA.

We sliced the beets thinly using the mandolin.

A very careful action shot. The mandolin has wronged me before.

To the dressing, we added basil, rosemary, and some Italian parsley. We substituted low-sugar maple syrup in place of the agave nectar. 

Clipped fresh from the front porch plants!

Back to the Beer Butt. We cooked the chicken on the grill for about 1 1/2 hours. We basted it with the remaining sauce at about 45 minutes in. Here's how it came out.

Paul, master butcher.

The seasoning on the chicken was really good. It's a nice blend of spices without being overpowering. I'm usually not a chicken-skin eater, but I indulged this time because it was quite tasty.

We thought the chicken came out a little overcooked -- based on the recipe, we were thinking it would be 3 hours to cook through, but it was actually a lot less. I thought the grill had to be at 180 degrees -- not that 180 should be the chicken's internal temperature. A problem that pretty much could have been solved had I read the recipe again. Oops. Regardless, we thought the recipe called for cooking the chicken a lot longer than it needed. We probably could have gotten away with pulling it off at 1 hour 15 minutes or so (assuming the temperature was right -- it was definitely over 180 when we pulled it off at 1 hour 30 minutes).

(Quickly) Finishing up the salad, we plated the beets underneath, and then added a small handful of greens, some chopped walnuts and the dressing on top.

So colorful!

The salad was very earthy and crunchy. It was definitely unlike anything I had eaten before. Were we to make something like this again, I think I would slice the beets more thinly. I would also probably add more orange juice and a little less walnut oil. Paul did not mind the walnut oil, but agreed with adding more citrus. We also went a little overboard with the fresh herbs -- I would not use as many, and I would eliminate the rosemary. I felt like it dominated the dressing a little.

Grilled chicken and a baked potato. I am a happy camper.

Can we discuss how amazingly good baked potatoes are? Add some shredded cheddar, sour cream and chives, and I could eat one every day. Paul was not so pleased with the outside of the potato -- he thought the texture was a little weird.

The meal was relatively simple to make, especially after a Sunday morning/afternoon spent busy with work. You do need to keep an eye on the chicken, but it's not a time-consuming meal to prepare. We will definitely be making this again.