Hot Wings on a Friday night

Heather and I went to see Dr. Engleberg in Memphis for a followup on her back. She is now only "very uncomfortable" instead of "excruciating pain". He gave her a list of exercises to work on and come back in 6 weeks. How frustrating is that?! While were were in east Memphis, we took the opportunity for a surprisingly inexpensive and fast meal at the Macaroni Grill. Heather got the insalata blu, a bowl of Chicken Tuscan soup with gnocchi, and a Sicilian pizza. I had the same salad with 1/2 chicken and cheese sandwich. The soup was the highlight of the meal. The surprising thing was. It was only $1 more than the last time we ate at Connie's Chicken. What a deal! And it only took 30 minutes total.

We got home later than I had planned and the boys were just getting home so we hung out with them for a while. Heather made her infamous hot wings with some celery. Tanner almost melted, but ate the majority of them. No human should pass through this world without getting the opportunity to enjoy her wings.

Grilled Salmon w/ Jalapeno Butter and grilled corn

Heather worked on the jalapeno butter while I was at flag football practice with Tanner. She learned a valuable lesson. NEVER chop a jalapeno, breathe the vapors in, then wipe your eyes without washing your hands. Niagara Falls had nothing on her tear ducts. However, the end result was worthy of the lesson. I fired up the charcoal when I got home and shucked the corn. That is what good ole' country boys do. However, I screwed up when I couldn't get the charcoal to stay hot. I put one piece of newspaper in the chimney to keep the coals going. I thought nothing of it. I cooked the corn in the husks for about 15 minutes. I pulled them off and put on the simply seasoned salmon fillets. I smoked them for about 6 minutes. They were done. I pulled everything off and plated it. There was a very strange aroma. I put a large pat of the jalapeno butter on the fillet and took a picture. Then I took a huge dollop of the seasoned butter and spread it over my fillet. Heather had taken some white truffle oil and blended it with some clarified butter for the corn. Excellent combination. However, my screw up of adding one sheet of newspaper reared its ugly head with a strange funk. Luckily, the meal was delicious. Simple, semi-healthy, but funky. I regret messing up Heather's otherwise brilliant meal. Lesson learned. Please check out the salmon recipe here:

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/getrecipe.zsp?id=316803

It is worth the effort.....

Chipotle Shrimp Tacos

I took 2 pictures of this. It was that good. They are not on the camera. I guess Brian needs to give me a few lessons.

I LOVE this dish. Wow it is good. Low cal, low fat, high flavor. I sooooo wish I had a pick. It is a great combination of flavors. Check out the recipe here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/chipotle-shrimp-taco-with-avocado-salsa-verde-recipe/index.html

If you can do half as good as Heather did, you won't be disappointed.

Chicken Picatta with pasta and mushrooms

We have always regularly made a picatta. Veal is the favorite, but sometimes it is hard to find (or afford). Tonight Heather took lightly floured chicken tenders and sauteed them in butter and olive oil. Then she sauteed the mushrooms and made a sauce with lemon, pinot grigio, and capers. It was finished with minced parsley. She put it on a bed of multi-grain angel hair pasta. It was a "lighter" version of a picatta than we usually have. She is trying to look after my health. It wasn't missing anything.

Orzo mac and cheese

Heather made a mac and cheese with the classic bechamel but substituted orzo for the standard elbow macaroni. The boys freaked out. It was that good. Definitely a keeper.

Ribeye with Boursin

After a very relaxing labor day, Heather finished off the day with a delicious meal. She made some mashed potatoes with roasted garlic. She blanched some fresh green beans, then tossed them with sauteed bacon and red onion. The ribeyes were simply seasoned with salt and pepper. She used the cast iron grill pan to sear them and finished them in the oven to a perfect medium rare. She got a little too zealous to put them in the oven and grabbed the 400 degree pan with her bare hand. I heard the sizzle from across the room. She is ok, but it was painful. She topped the steaks with a blend of Boursin and clarified butter. Wow! It was most excellent. You should be jealous....

Heather's chili adventure

OK, "adventure" is a bit much, but Heather has a knack of putting together different textures that compliment each other. She used a chili kit with canned tomatoes, beans, and browned ground beef to make a chili. It was good on its own. But she cooked some Acini di pepe pasta, put the chili over it and topped it with grated cheddar and chopped red onion. She finished it with a dollap of sour cream. That combination was so much better. The bite of the small pasta, the richness of the chili, the creaminess of the sour cream, and the crunch of the raw onion was quite nice. I look forward to leftovers for lunch later this week.