Main Dishes

Life takes an unhappy turn sometimes, and during those situations I find it helpful to find peace and joy in comfort food.  I haven’t posted anything on the Blog for a couple of months because my mom, otherwise known as Neeners, suffered a pretty big stroke the first of November.  The good news is that she is physically as strong as an ox and eats like a horse.  The more challenging part of the picture is that her vision is fairly limited now, and short-term memory is a struggle.  These issues seem to be improving, but it has resulted in my sister, brother, husband, aunt, and I to adopt an ‘all hands on deck’ approach to making sure she gets the care she needs.  I am so thankful for them all, and thankful Neeners is recovering well and has been a pretty good little trooper through the whole thing.  She retains her signature warped sense of humor about the whole thing, and relishes kicking me – hard – when we do our leg strengthening exercises together.

Back to comfort food then…..I’ve been making this mac and cheese since my college days, when my roommate shared her mother’s recipe.  I’d never hear of such a thing!!!  Mac and cheese that didn’t come out of a box??!! Holy cow!!!   I’ve been hooked ever since and hope you find this recipe helpful in times of need, or any other time you feel like a big bowl of creamy comfort.  To tell the truth, I ALWAYS double this recipe, so if you are so inclined, please feel free.  It’s a nice thing to share if you can’t polish off the whole thing yourself and is just right for whenever a crowd appears, seemingly out of nowhere.

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I, like many others, am buried alive by garden zucchini, and it has reached the point where we can’t give them away fast enough.  I am getting the feeling friends and neighbors are closing their curtains and locking their doors when they see me appear with my little bag of garden treats in hand.  Add to the fact that while deliriously happy to see our first cherry tomato appear, I began to avert my eyes and guiltily ignore the little guys when the big tomatoes began to ripen. A person can handle only so much guilt, so this recipe was designed to alleviate any that was associated with excessive garden production.  The cherry tomatoes are picked, halved and quickly sautéed to develop rich flavor and to drive off excess moisture.  The zucchini are thinly sliced lengthwise, baked for a few minutes just to soften, formed into spirals and set down in that fresh tomato sauce.  After that, a rich, cheesy filling is spooned into the center of the spiral…top the whole business with a little more tomato sauce, cheese, and buttered breadcrumbs for crunch.  Rich, satisfying, remarkably good for you, and fun to make.  Besides that, I can now look those cherry tomatoes in the eye again.

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Tired of the same old burger routine? Here’s a super-simple idea to add to your burger repertoire.  Just a few simple additions changes shrimp into an irresistible supper. The burgers are rich with shrimp, thick, and juicy, with just a touch of lemon and green onion.  After they come off the stove, they get slathered with a homemade tartar sauce to jazz up the whole works.  Add the bun of your choice, a fresh tomato, and go to town.

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Summer is here in all it’s glory.  Gardens are bursting, tans are forming, and cold desserts and beer are always on the menu.  The first glimmer of sunshine always sends me straight to the grill, and that translates into it being  it high time to make some Limoncello chicken.  This is not your ordinary lemon chicken – we’ve got the ultimate lemon infused marinade, but that’s not where this story ends.  An after-grilling generous drizzling with a creamy lemon vinaigrette that has both Limoncello and the juice of grilled lemon halves takes this one over the top.  Heaven on a barbecue…

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Our first trip outside of the continental US was to Jamaica, many years ago. I had never travelled much outside of my home state and was used to the whole ‘white picket fences’ and ‘everybody has a television’ kind of life.  This trip changed all that, and it also brought on my very first case of over the top culture shock.  I had never seen such poverty in my life, and I couldn’t figure out how everybody could be so darned happy when many lived in plywood sheds with tin for a roof – but that all became clear very shortly after we arrived. In fact, I think it must be nearly impossible not to be happy there.  It is a magical, beautiful, and peaceful place, and the people there could not have been more friendly. The food was incredible, with seafood fresh off the boat every day, and amazing tropical fruits (and drinks by the way) that I’ll never forget.  One of my favorite dishes was Jerk Chicken, and here’s my attempt at trying to recreate it at home.  The term ‘jerk’ means the meat is either dry rubbed or wet-marinated in a hot spice mixture that includes hot peppers, cinnamon, nutmeg, thyme and allspice, among other things depending on who is doing the cooking.  It is typically cooked over a wood fire to ensure that irresistible smoky flavor.  Traditional Jerk Chicken is made with Scotch Bonnet peppers, but I am a total baby when it comes to anything spicy, so I just used a nice big pinch of red pepper flakes.  If you prefer to live on the wild side, please feel free.  As we say in Jamaica, “No problem”.

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This recipe comes from my sister, Linda (otherwise known as Sissy).   I descended upon her house with camera and notepad in hand because she had volunteered to share her OMG rated Tex-Mex Cheese Enchilada recipe.  Sissy obtained this recipe from Eddie, who used to run a Mexican Restaurant in our hometown.  Eddie did a great business until he got arrested – but that’s another story. He may have had his problems, but this recipe is unbelievably good, and is as traditional Tex-Mex as you can get. The sauce is rich and full of chili powder, cumin, and garlic, with just enough gooey cheese to keep you coming back for another bite. You going to want to make a double batch – they go down easy.  Follow along with me and I’ll show you just how easy they are to make, or should I say, my sis will…

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