Luau Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 (20 oz) can sliced pineapple
• 1 TBS brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground mustard
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• boneless, skinless chicken breasts - 1 per person (4 oz each)
• 1/4 cup mayo
• 1 TBS Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp dill weed
• deli rolls, split & toasted
• optional lettuce leaves

Directions:

1. Drain juice from pineapple, reserving 1 cup of juice and 1 pineapple slice per person (serving). Remaining juice and pineapple can be saved to use in another recipe.
2. Combine the brown sugar, ground mustard, garlic salt, pepper, and reserved 1 cup pineapple juice in a large resealable bag with the chicken breasts. Seal bag, turning to coat chicken.
3. Refrigerate chicken in resealable bag with marinade for 2 hours in the refrigerator. Turn occasionally to thoroughly coat chicken in marinade.
4. In a separate small dish, combine the mayo, Dijon mustard, and dill. Once completed mixed, refrigerate (covered) until ready to use.
5. Time to cook! Drain and discard marinade from chicken breasts.
6. Preheat the grill to medium heat. Cook the chicken breasts on a covered grill, using medium heat for 5-6 minutes per side - or until juices run clear.
7. Grill the pineapple slices for 1 minute on each side.
8. Prepare the split, toasted deli rolls with mayo if desired and layer each roll with 1 chicken breast, 1 slice of grilled pineapple, and 1 lettuce leaf (if desired).

Hint: We opted to make these open face - using only 1/2 a deli roll per person. One of our side dishes was a salad, so we also skipped on adding lettuce to the open sandwich. The boys really liked the chicken grilled this way, and all 4 guys requested that we put this back on the menu, soon!


This recipe is shared over at Sweet & Simple #6 at Cups by Kim.  Please visit and tell her I said hello!  Be inspired by all the great shares...and share a recipe from your kitchen too!

Peach & Blackberry Crumble

Ingredients:

...fruit filling...

1 (16 oz) bag frozen sliced peaches
2 (5.6 oz) containers fresh blackberries, cleaned and dry
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 TBS cornstarch

....crumble topping...

1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
6 TBS butter, cut into small pieces

* Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare a square baking dish with cooking spray.

* Combine peaches, blackberries, lemon peel, 1/3 cup brown sugar and cornstarch in a bowl and mix well. Pour into prepared baking dish.

* Using a food processor, first combine AP flour, almonds, salt, 1/2 cup brown sugar using the pulse setting. Next add butter pieces and continue to pulse until the consistency of the mixed ingredients has become chunky.

* Top the fruit mixture in the baking dish with the crumble mixture from the food processor.

* Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes.

* Let cool for a minimum of 10 minutes before serving.

* To score big, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yummm!

Disclaimer: Apparently today is the day I couldn't read a recipe to save my life. 3 different times I messed this dish up and was sure it would be inedible. The dish was quite tasty, but I give you fair warning so you can learn from my mistakes....read the recipe, read it again, and then read it one more time. It can't hurt! Happy cooking!!

Turkey Brine

Years ago, my mother and I were watching a food show talking about different ways to prepare turkey for the holidays. One of the methods being discussed was using a brine solution to soak the turkey in before cooking. Interesting! We had neither one ever heard of this and were both very curious if the outcome was worth the effort.

With a little research we discovered that there are many variations of brine solution and methods for soaking the turkey...but after taking many notes (see picture) over many years now, this is the solution that I have found gives us the best result. Absolutely worth the effort!!


Ingredients:

1 gallon vegetable broth, (prepared or homemade)
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 TBS whole peppercorns
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp candied ginger

* Combine ingredients and bring to a boil
* Let cool completely, covering with a lid
* Using a clean, dry cooler...place thawed turkey in cooler then cover with brine solution and enough ice to cover
* Allow to soak overnight, making sure you have enough ice in the cooler to keep the turkey at a safe temperature
* If space in your fridge allows, the same brine solution can be used in a resealable bag large enough for the turkey and brine solution - just make sure to set the bag with the brine and turkey in a bowl/tray/or pan to prevent any accidental leakages from contaminating your fridge

* After turkey has soaked in the brine solution for 4-12 hours, discard the brine solution and cook the turkey as desired

O. M. Goodness Grilled Peaches

I've never grilled peaches before, and I really really wanted to try them.

Lucky me, my local store that sells everything had some beautiful peaches, right there by the cash registers yesterday.

It was fate!

With Jon's help, the peaches were cut in half, and then again in quarters...but that was mostly because I couldn't get them apart.

Oops.




Then we dipped the cut sides of the fruit in brown sugar and wiped off the excess.



On to the hot grill pan they went. About medium heat. Not too hot, that brown sugar and the natural sugars of the peach could get ugly real fast if the heat was too high.



I grilled both sides of the peach quarter that hard brown sugar. I let them cook 3-4 minutes on each side. That's a lot longer than it sounds!

I knew they were ready when the peach began to soften and the sugar had caramelized on the peach.

Success!! These were absolutely wonderful! My 12 year old thought he would refuse to try one. He was wrong. He went back and got 2 more.

These boys!!