Father's Day Dinner

This Father's Day marked a first in this house when it comes to cooking dinner. For the first time in the 9 plus years that my wife and I have been together, tonight was the first time she has ever cooked dinner for me. She isn't the most skilled in the kitchen, so it is just better if I handle the cooking duties. That being said, she pulled a rabbit out of the hat tonight and whipped up a very nice meal for her first time out of the box. I let her plan it all, prepare everything, cook it all, and then serve me. I figured of she was doing the first three that she might as well do the latter as well. :)

Here is a run down of what she made tonight:

Publix's recipe for "Party Chicken and Broccoli Salad". We had this a few months ago at my Aunt's house and she told my wife how easy it was to make. My wife insisted she could make it, if it was that easy, so today was her day to put that to the test. She passed.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Cheese
You can see the recipe for this dish below in the pictures. I was grab a picture of the laptop screen when she wasn't looking.

I was not allowed in the kitchen, thought I did sneak in to grab a few pictures, so I can't tell you for sure how she made everything. I can tell you thought that everything was cooked, or in the case of the broccoli salad and pie, and mixed very nicely. She earned herself another shot at cooking some point down the line.

Strawberry Creme Pie
I sort of assisted with this dessert as the three ingredients are Cool Whip, Strawberry Yogurt, and a ready to go pie crust.

My wife was going to buy Yoplait's Strawberry Yogurt. I convinced her that the Strawberry Greek Yogurt was the way to go, and it made all the difference in the world. Greek Yogurt is creamier and has a much sharper taste. It lent itself perfectly to this dessert when mixed with the Cool Whip.

Memorial Day Cookout - Meats on Sticks

Memorial Day is a time to pay honor to those that have served before us and for those that currently do everything that they can to protect and serve our great country. However, the holiday does mean one more thing and this is cookouts. It is the "official" start to the summer cookout season. All across the country grills were fired up and meats were smoked or grilled to perfection. My house was no different on this Memorial Day.

This year I decided to go the meats on sticks route and went with beef and chicken kabobs. A good kabob is a thing of beauty and will leave you plenty satisfied. Some like to put their meat and veggies on the same skewers, but I choose to have the meat on their own and the vegetables on another. Only reason for this is because of the cooking times. Everything was marinated in the same Gourmet Warehouse of Hilton Head's Low Country Marinade. This stuff goes great with anything and played perfect with this selection of meats and vegetables.

As for the rest of the meal, I decided to make a pasta salad and then bought some potato salad from Publix. Just wasn't in the mood to make the potato salad this morning and the red skin homestyle one at Publix is pretty darn good. The pasta salad was just pasta, peas, onions, garlic, cherry tomatoes, feta, and Newman's Own Light Lime Dressing. Just a little of this goes a long way and this salad was perfectly dressed. A few hours chilling in the fridge gave the pasta salad time to get to the right serving temp and for the flavors in the dressing to work their way into every bite of the salad.

Nothing tops off a cookout quite like fresh ice cold watermelon, and this cookout was no different. Seedless might be on the label, but I don't think I have ever run across a watermelon that was 100% seedless. This was pretty close, but still no cigar.

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day holiday weekend.

Final Four Chicken Nachos

This was about as simple as it gets to make but it tasted like I slaved away all day on this dish. I diced up a couple organic chicken breasts and cooked them off with some green peppers, garlic, and taco seasoning. While that was going on I heated up a can of refried beans and brought the cement mixture to temperature. I then spread out a layer of Tostitos onto a cookie sheet and then topped them with cheese, the chicken mixture, and the refried beans. I then covered everything in more cheese and some fresh jalapenos. Bake until all the cheese has melted and the chips get super crispy. Finish with a little sour cream and some salsa and this dish is ready to be eaten.

Chicken & Waffle Sliders from Rocks on the Roof

At the Bohemian Hotel in Savannah @rocksontheriver is a rooftop bar and restaurant with some of the best views and food that Savannah has to offer. To be exact you have Rocks on the Roof which is the bar that has a smaller menu offerings and there is Rocks on the River Modern Grille which is the full service restaurant.

So last night at Rocks on the Roof I ate one of the most ridiculously amazing things I have ever eaten. This was chicken & waffles taken to the next level and then some. Basically this is a nice size chicken tenderloin that is fried to perfection and then placed between 2 sweet Belgium Waffles. Oh...if it was only that simple.

Combined with these two great items, that were meant to be eaten together, was this red pepper jam that complimented the chicken & waffle perfectly. Just when you think you are hitting the highest point of flavor...you get hit with this sprinkling of Boursin Cheese that is melting with every bite on under the chicken and on the waffle. But that isn't enough! They then drizzle this honey grain mustard syrup combo (I think that is what it was) on the bottom of the plate and sprinkle powdered sugar over everything. Like I said, ridiculously amazing!

This might be a "slider", but this isn't one you pick up and eat. Grab your fork and knife and savor every bite of this treat.

This meal was washed down with a couple of Crown & Gingers. However, the bartender made us a shot that was the perfect compliment to this meal. It was called a "Blueberry Waffle". It was made with non-chilled Blueberry Vodka and Butterscotch Schnapps. The mixture of these two together in a shot gives you the sensation that you just swallowed a warm blueberry waffle. Not bad at all and it went well with the meal.

I am sorry for the dark pictures, but it was very hard to get a well lit photo in there.

Super Bowl Sunday Grub

I tired to keep this years Super Bowl feast simple but still with some good elements involved. The menu included:

Some easy to pop in the oven stuff:
TGiF Potato Skins & Cheese Sticks

Pre-made cold dips:
Cajun Krab Dip
Hummus
Salsa & Sour Cream

Hot Dip:
Buffalo Chicken Dip

Dipping Materials:
Tostitos
Wheat Thins
Pita Chips
Fritos
Celery

Meal:
Grilled Flank Steak (Marinated in Italian Dressing)
Grilled Veggies (My own Balsamic Marinade)
King Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

Dessert:
Publix Super Bowl Cupcakes

Drinks:
Crown & Ginger

Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe:

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (10 ounce) can chicken, drained(or equivalent rotisserie or freshly-cooked, chopped chicken)
1 cup ranch dressing
3/4 cup red hot sauce
shredded cheddar cheese, you decide how much
Frito corn chip, scoops

For this recipe I chose to boil 4 breasts of chicken and then diced them into bite size pieces.

Directions

1 Beat cream cheese, ranch dressing, and red hot sauce.
2 Fold in shredded chicken.
3 Spread mixture into pie plate sprayed with Pam.
4 Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
5 Add cheddar to top and bake an additional 10-15 minutes.
6 Serve hot with Frito scoops.

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/buffalo-chicken-dip

Main Course: Flank Steak & Grilled Vegetables