The Hull's came to visit

Emma Blue and Ruth Ann wearing the same shirt. Who woulda thunkit? Jake the Snake, future NBA allstar.

Chicken Enchiladas

Wow were these good. Heather had gotten some chicken tenders out of the freezer and was wondering what to do with them. I took C to Taekwondo and returned to this. The best part is I had leftovers for lunch. This recipe is in the Barkley Family Cookbook. It should be a staple for all the busy families.

Osso Bucco

After a quick stop at the Fresh Market in Madison on the way home from Jackson, we picked up some veal shanks. Heather did all the work and I heated up some sourdough bread and made an infused olive oil.

Dinner at the Hull's

After an afternoon at the zoo (and a nap for some), we dodged rain storms to get over the Brian and Hollie's. Mimi made a spinach salad with goat cheese, strawberries, and a balsamic vinaigrette. She also brought some whole wheat pasta with her secret sauce and meatballs. The roasted garlic bread kept away all unwanted creatures of the night. Hollie got out some of her friend's kalamat olive hummus with some warm pita.

It is always nice to hang with them.

Jackson Zoo

The Hull's, Mimi, and the Barkley's took a trip to the Jackson Zoo. Wow! It has really improved over the past few years. This is the crew.

Garlic cheese biscuits with capitulatory spaghetti

Heather gave into Chance's spaghetti pressure and made a batch. To even things out, she made some very fluffy and layered garlic cheese biscuits. Tanner asked if he could put some jelly on them, but after he took a bite, he knew they were spot on.
Heather uses the biscuit recipe from the Joy of Cooking. We simply added some shredded cheddar and garlic salt with melted butter over the top.

Shrimp and grits with tasso cream gravy

This time I used a bit too much shrimp stock. I am not sure why I added so much at the time, but I did. It had a really good flavor, but it diminished the texture of the grits. Oh well, we ate it all anyway....

Deer burger steaks with lima beans and crispy crowns

Heather made some deer burgers with beef stock, onion, and mushrooms. The lima beans were good and Tanner mixed mayo and ketchup to make "honey mustard" to dip his crispy crowns in. This was the sodium intake for a week, but it was really good.

Chicken and Dumplings

Heather was off today and made a big pot of chicken and dumplings. The dumplings were made with buttermilk and the stock was quite rich. She also made me a carrot cake, one of my favorites. I wish she was off more often. Wait, she does too....

Poached salmon with jalapeno butter and lemon farfelle

Heather had gotten a nice salmon fillet and we had some jalapeño butter in the freezer. I poached it with lemon and lemon pepper then added the jalapeño butter and broiled it for the last few minutes. The pasta was an afterthought. I just cooked the bowtie pasta and made a sauce using a little of the jalapeño butter and flour to make a roux. I thined it with white wine, lemon, and lemon zest. A little cream and a quick toss with the pasta and serve it up. Tanner even ate it all. Miracles never cease.

http://www.cookingcache.com/seafood/grilledsalmonwithjalapenobutterlowcarb.shtml?rdid=rc1

Easter Brunch

Heather was in a cooking mood and we had brie in pastry, bacon, fruit puffs, and an incredible quiche. The quiche is quite good to be so simple. It is one can of artichoke hearts, about 1/2 a cup of mozzarella then cover it with a cup of cream beaten with three eggs. Pop it in the oven for about 45 minutes and then let it rest till it is warm to give time for everything to set. Very rich and delicious.

Chicken Natalie

How do you break in a new range? Chicken Natalie! Duh! Heather used some different bell peppers in this one.

Email us if you want the recipe. I am working on a way to link to a pdf easier. More on that later....

Flat Iron Steak with onion rings

Still living ovenless, I marinated a flat iron steak in Chianti, rosemary, thyme, olive oil, and garlic. A few minutes over the grill and served on some microwave instant potatoes and it was good to go. I helped the instant potatoes with a generous helping of butter, cream, and sour cream. The onion rings were C's idea. It was a nice fit so I made them. We had 4 clean plates.

Sirloin with Boursin butter, summer vegetables, and a Heather salad

While still being ovenless, we compensated this night with a grill. The salad was Saga blue brie with walnuts and red onion. The sirloin was from the Chicago steaks. The vegetables are zucchini and different bell peppers.
http://www.chicagosteaks.com/
http://www.cheese.com/Description.asp?Name=Saga

Grilled chicken with blue box Mac & Cheese

Still no oven. Heather marinated chicken breasts in some packet she had. I grilled them between storms. I got out the camping gear and cooked mac and cheese just like we did in cub scouts. The chicken was some of the best I have had. Props to Heather.

Kinetic Kick spring cookout

Kinetic Kick had their Spring Cookout and water fight at Ballard Park. Mr. McMichael reached the human saturation point pretty quickly when he had at least 20 students in hot pursuit with loaded water guns. Look at all the medals that were brought back to Tupelo from the Bayou. It is funny how if you do what Mr. McMichael says, you win.

Corned beef and cabbage

To quote Chance, "Crockpot again!?!?!?!?!" We love corned beef so I through one in the crockpot. Once I was home, I took the brisket out and added a sliced onion and thinly sliced cabbage to the reserved liquid and turned it to high. 30 minutes later the cabbage was done. This easy, one pot meal has become a favorite.

Pepperoncini Beef

With no oven, we have limited options on what we can have. Kroger had English Roasts on sale and we had gotten one before the oven disaster. It went into the crockpot with the juice from a whole jar of pepperoncini peppers. Heather added the peppers as well after she got home from work. This was very tender and just a little spicy. The butter beans didn't really complement the beef, but again we were limited on what we could do. Creamed corn out of the can with a little rendered bacon grease in the microwave was surprisingly good. Granny would be proud.

Death of the oven

While I was preparing the short ribs, I noticed the oven we EXTREMELY hot. I turned the oven off, but there was an error code on the display. At this point, smoke was coming off the enamel of the dutch oven. In a panic, Heather and I ran to the breaker box and turned it off. After we had eaten and the oven had somewhat cooled, I flipped the breaker back on and the oven fired up both elements on high. I flipped it back off to keep the house from burning down and did a quick google on the error. WOW! A lot of people have had the same problem. The oven sensor is bad. Logic would tell you if the sensor is broken, don't turn on. This Kenmore P-O-S turns on. Not just on, but full blast. What a fire hazard. URGH! More money down the drain....

Short Ribs

We found some short ribs at Sam's of all places so we decided to give them a shot. They were cut to thin and a lot of the garbage cuts were left, but after a few minutes of cleaning them up, I had something worth working with. I served them with mashed potatoes. Not bad for a cheap cut of meat from Sam's, however I will probably wait until I can get a better cut before I make them again.

Aunt Judy has done it again!

Aunt Judy- The machine we were emailing on had issues and we had to rebuild it. I'm afraid I've lost your email address. I do want to thank you for the picture of mom and dad. I'll have to debate long and hard on whether to give it to mom and dad or keep it for myself. It is so special to have. I am so happy you've started painting like this. I'll send more pictures soon. Please email me with your email address.
Love you! Heather and the rest of the Barkleys