The Cozy Cat and Harvest Dinner

Our cat Merlin always finds the most comfortable places to be. On cold rainy days he secures the comfy cozy chair right by the fire, or snuggles into the pillow on the computer chair which is protected from drafts on all sides by the l-shaped desk.

When it is sunny but cool he can be found in the sunspace, usually upstairs on a fuzzy comforter, soaking up the sun. If the day is warm he find not only the shady spot but the one with any breeze that can be found. It's tough wearing an elegant gray fur coat when the weather is warm.

On Friday I was folding wash and saw him outside on the back porch in an unusual place. Before the storm earlier in the week I had moved a couple of decorative lanterns from the shelf on the potting bench to the bench top so they wouldn't be toppled by the wind. Now that the shelf was completely empty, Merlin decided that it made the perfect place to nap since it was in the shade and caught the afternoon breeze. I slipped around the side of the house with my camera at the ready, crept up the deck steps and surprised him. He woke up immediately, but I got some cute photos.


While Merlin snoozed, I took advantage of the soaking rain from earlier in the week. It really loosened up the soil and made cleaning up the garden much easier.

Out went the spent zucchini plants, the old, dried up bachelor button plants and daises. I pulled up the plants that had done so surprisingly well in that plastic sack of potting soil and found the gopher run underneath and the place where the gopher had gotten tired of chewing on an old, hard shelled piece of zucchini and left it in the run. The gopher had also chewed a nice sized hole in the bottom of the sack. Thank heavens that I had plenty of plants to go around this year...some for me, some for the gophers.

As I went through cleaning up and weeding, I harvested some of the late season veggies. There were tomatoes, tiny zucchini - both yellow and green - and a decent sized light green one. There were pale purple eggplant shaped like eggs and dark purple skinned ones, like dark teardrops, plus one white one that was sort of round and squat.

Later in the afternoon I decided to make a harvest dinner using those smaller veggies, plus a squash that I had purchased at the local farm stand. I thawed some boneless, skinless chicken thighs out and found a container of small onions, already peeled and ready to cook with.

The first veggies to go under the knife were the eggplant varieties. The dark ones were peeled and the rest lost the top and stem and then were sliced and cut in half. Since they were all pretty small that was all that was needed. I roasted them with garlic, fresh oregano, dried rosemary and fresh basil and Sweetie took a taste and said that they were good. Since I'm not fond of eggplant I took his word for it.

Next I peeled the hard squash and removed the seeds and membranes from each half.

The slices looked like half moons and when cooked they were velvety in texture and quite delicious. The zucchini were treated differently depending on size. The light green on was cut into chunks, the medium yellow one was cut into rounds and the two tiny ones were just cut in half lengthwise.

These were roasted after being flavored with thyme, pepper and fresh marjoram.

The chicken pieces were browned in vegetable oil, then I added four cloves of minced garlic and cooked that gently for a few minutes until very lightly browned. Chicken stock, thyme, the baby onions, cardamom and chopped apricots, plus salt and pepper made for a savory sauce and succulent chicken.

The last part of the dinner was steamed rice which captured the pan sauce and helped tie the various flavors together. On the plate the mellow green and golden colors reminded me of the grape vines we had seen in the morning after walking the dog. Fall is here and the harvest is winding down.

I feel fortunate to have had so many wonderful garden veggies this spring and summer and I'll surely miss them as we head into winter, but it was good to tidy up the garden a bit, too. There are still plenty of green tomatoes and a couple of zucchini plants still producing squash. The Swiss chard are colorful and happy with the cooler weather and now I can appreciate the shapes and colors of the planting more with fewer plants taking up space. Time to start planning what seeds I want for next year.

Harvest Dinner

Amounts are approximate because the veggies went straight from the garden to the railing to the kitchen and never were weighed.

Eggplant:

About a pound of eggplants
2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
1-2 teaspoon(s) fresh oregano or marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
salt to taste
about 2 tablespoons olive oil

Wash the eggplant and peel any dark skinned ones. Remove the stem end and any soft spots. Cut in half and slice in 1/2 inch thick slices. Place eggplant slices, garlic slices, basil, oregano, rosemary, pepper and salt and olive oil in a large plastic bag. Close bag and shake to combine all the ingredients.

Line a baking pan (I used an 8-inch square baking pan like you use for brownies) with heavy foil and place the eggplant mixture in it. Roast in a preheated 425 degree F oven for 20 -25 minutes or until browned on the edges, but not burnt. Keep warm or reheat right before serving.

Squash:

About 3/4 pound mixed squash. I used a squash that had green and gold stripes and it was similar to a pumpkin. You could use acorn, hubbard, butternut or similar hard shelled squash for about half the squash and zucchini, pattypan, or similar summer squash for the rest.

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon fresh marjoram
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper or to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil

Peel the hard shelled squash, remove all seeds and membranes, then cut in thin slices or chunks
Remove the ends of the summer squash and slice or cut in chunks.

Place the squash pieces, thyme, marjoram, pepper and the olive oil in a large plastic bag. Close the bag and shake to completely combine the ingredients (you can re-use the bag you used for the eggplant if you like).

Line a baking pan with heavy duty foil, place the squash mixture in it and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20 - 25 minutes or until the hard shelled squash is tender when pierced with a sharp knife. Keep warm or reheat at serving time.

Chicken with Onions, Garlic and Apricots

5-6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 1/4 cup chicken broth
1 cup small onions, peeled and par-boiled if fresh (I used thawed frozen ones which are ready to use)
1/4 cup dried apricots, cut in small dice
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

salt and pepper to taste

Rinse the chicken under cold water and pat dry with towel. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a heavy bottomed skillet. Brown the chicken on all sides, then remove and keep warm. Add the garlic and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until very lightly browned. Do not burn or cook to dark brown. If necessary, you can add a little more oil for cooking the garlic.

Add the chicken broth and use a non-stick or wooden spoon to scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Return the chicken to the pan, add the onions and apricots and stir to combine the mixture. Sprinkle the thyme and cardamom over the chicken pieces. Add salt and pepper to taste. Check the stock. It should come about half way up the chicken pieces. If it is lower add some water or more stock. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes, until chicken is very tender.

While chicken is cooking, steam a cup of raw rice in your favorite manner. I used up the rest of the chicken broth from the can as part of the rice cooking liquid, but the sauce is so flavorful, just water is fine for cooking the rice.

To serve, place some of the rice on the plate. Add one or two pieces of the chicken. Spoon the onions and some sauce over the chicken and the rice. Spoon on generous servings of the eggplant and squash mixtures. Serve while still nice and hot. Serves 3-4.

Foiled Again

If you are wondering what happened to the Feeding My Enthusiasms blog that had lots of baked goods, especially sweet ones, well, it seems that with all the cooking I'm doing for work that there is less baking going on! Check back now and then because there will be some baked goods soon. Actually this post contains a recipe for something baked...baked chicken.

This week I'm cooking at work for three dinners. Usually it is only for one and in the past I've done two dinners when clinic starts, but this week the regular Tuesday dinner is being followed by the Thursday / Friday dinners, with only today in between...and today has been filled with scholarship groups work. When I realized that there were three dinners to make, I had a grand time going through cook books, old magazines and the web looking for just the right things to cook.

For Tuesday I had a request for roasted red potatoes with rosemary and red pepper, so I was looking for an entree that would work well with them. I found a recipe for chicken breasts stuffed with a ricotta and herb mixture, then baked. It sounded just right. I also decided to grill late summer veggies - zucchini, mixed colors of bell peppers, and some crookneck squash, too. I even purchased a Japanese eggplant to grill. (The 'even' is because I don't care for eggplant myself and don't usually cook it either.)

There's a TV show called Modern Marvels which talks about things like plywood and plastic bubble wrap...very informative...but in my book some of the modern marvels to be extolled are kitchen items. One that has gotten a lot of use in the last little while is good old aluminum foil. In this case, heavy duty aluminum foil.

This is were the foil comes in. Let me tell you boys and girls, I used a lot of aluminum foil on Tuesday. The foil kept the cooked chicken warm after it came out of the oven. The foil lined the baking pans that held all of the prepped squash and peppers and eggplant. At first it was for easy and quick cleanup (because I'm...in theory...doing my regular job at the same time I'm cooking, so getting out of the kitchen and back to the office quickly is ideal), but later the foil was a blessing for another reason.

At our house, Sweetie does almost all the grilling. Last week when I mentioned the idea of grilling to my boss, he showed me his gas grill and how to use it....very easy. Unfortunately I discovered after all the squash and peppers and eggplant slices were ready to go on the grill that the grill wasn't working yesterday, so the veggies were cooked under the broiler instead...and the foil made that soooo easy. Didn't have quite the same flavor as grilled veggies, but still quite tasty.

I don't have recipes for the veggies or potatoes; all were cut up, shaken in a plastic bag with some olive oil, laid out on the foil lined pans and sprinkled with salt, pepper and a little garlic salt. The potatoes had the addition of fresh rosemary and diced red pepper added to the bag, so the olive oil coated it all. The potatoes were roasted until done and browned in a 450 degree F. oven. I stirred them well once, about half way through the cooking. The veggies were broiled, turned over about half way through the broiling.

Here is the recipe for the chicken. The chicken really benefited from the cheese and herbs and looked nice when sliced and fanned out, too. This makes a nice entree' for a buffet, too.

From Parties! Menus for Easy Good Times by Melanie Barnard and Brooke Dojny

Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Basil Ricotta

1 1/3 cup ricotta cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup minced scallions, including green tops
1/3 cup slivered fresh basil
1/3 c chopped parsley
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon nutmeg
12 chicken breast halves, about 6 oz each, boneless, with skin intact
3 tablespoon olive oil
Additional salt & pepper

In a mixing bowl, combine the two cheeses, scallions, basil, parsley, salt, pepper & nutmeg. Mix thoroughly. (Can be prepared 2 days in advance.)

Loosen the skin from 1 side of each chicken breast and insert about 1 ½ T of filling under the skin. Smooth skin around the filling and meat, tucking the 2 ends under to form a rounded dome shape.

Place filled chicken breasts side by side, close together, in an oiled 9 by 13 inch baking dish, drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Uncover the chicken and bake in the center of the oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until skin is lightly browned and juices run clear when pierced with a sharp knife Baste once during the cooking time with pan juices. Cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing (Can be baked 2 hours ahead. Hold at cool room temperature.)

Serve warm or at room temperature. Cut each breast crosswise into 3 slices and fan out on a serving platter. Garnish lavishly with basil.