April 28 – May 4, 2025

Wednesday:                        Penne with Creamy Mushroom Bolognese

Thursday: Fish nor Fowl Restaurant – Drew’s Birthday Dinner

April 21 – April 27, 2025

Monday:                              American Goulash w/ Greek Village Salad

Wednesday:                        Orzotto Alfredo

Saturday:                             Roasted Mushroom Pizza

Sunday:                                Grilled Chicken, Shrimp and Vegetables over Orzo

Cooking in the Dark and a Reason to Grill

You didn’t hear from us last week, because I need my desk computer to compose the blog posts and my desk computer requires electricity, and we didn’t have any for 8 days.  Here’s what happened:  We had a maximum mini-burst in the neighborhood.  A ‘mini-burst’ is defined by meteorologists as a ‘localized downburst of air that produces a burst of damaging winds at or near the surface.”  In our case, the forecast called for winds of 80 mph and we were advised to stay away from windows and get into an ‘interior’ room.

Well, I was in an exterior room when the wind and driving rain hit and nearly fell down when what I took to be a clap of thunder shook our windows, scaring the bejayzus out of Beez and me.  In 5 minutes the wind was gone, the rain shortly thereafter and the sun came out.

What we didn’t know until we received a text from a neighbor was that what sounded like thunder was, in fact, a large wild cherry tree knocking the top off one of our chimneys before coming to rest on the roof of our house.  It was hard to believe that a tree that large and healthy could have been uprooted by the wind – but that, in fact, is what happened.  I’ll spare you the full details – suffice to say that we’ll be getting a new roof, new air conditioning compressor, new ceiling in the master bedroom, new chimney and, generally, taking on the responsibility of general contractors, but not getting paid at the same rate – indeed, not getting paid at all.  But thankfully, insurance should cover everything.

As discombobulating as the experience was [try keeping to your habitual schedule with no electricity, a tree on your roof and continuing rain for 8 days], there was a certain peacefulness to having no television and sitting, watching Beez’s beautiful face in the flickering candle-light.  A good friend brought us a gallon of Starbuck’s coffee two days after the lights went out, other good friends had us over to dinner on one of our dark nights, and we were reminded that we live in a community of caring people.

We have a gas stove, so we did manage to cook by candle and flashlight during the outage.  One night we cooked a fine pasta with a sort of creamy mushroom sauce we made up as we went along – we couldn’t get to the store that day because of downed trees.  But on the Sunday before the Act of God that plunged us into darkness, we grilled one of our favorite dishes.  On a somewhat chilly grilling deck, but fortified by two martinis, I grilled chicken, peppers, mushrooms and shrimp which we served over an herbed orzo.  I mean – pasta and grilled meat and fish together – it was like being in the garden of an Italian villa, but with a bunch of Americans who know what charcoal is for.

The pizza with roasted mushroom sauce was also amazing, but not all of you make your own pizza (Peter, I need to get this recipe to you) and ‘Stewart’s Grill,’ as we call this week’s recipe is something you all need to know about.  [Note:  Grilling chicken and peppers and shrimp and cooking orzo requires some savvy scheduling to have everything come in for a landing at the same time.  It’s not difficult, but since you haven’t done this as often as I have, I strongly suggest that you have no more than one martini before cooking.

*Yes, I know that maximum mini-burst sounds like an oxymoron but it is no more so than calling the largest young player a big Little Leaguer, or Northwestern a small Big 10 school.  Oh, and the mini-burst in our neighborhood was one of hundreds in the long path of a derecho which stretched from Texas to New York.  A derecho, according to the national weather service, is a rare, long straight storm with winds potentially reaching speeds of 130 mph and travelling at least 240 miles across the land. 

STEWART’S GRILL

(adapted from Giada De Laurentiis)

Note:  Giada’s recipe calls for grilling corn and for serving over saffron orzo.  It’s too soon for local corn in our neighborhood and saffron now costs $28.00 for a small vial such as you would need to cook this recipe.  We used turmeric to give the orzo a pleasant tinge.  Didn’t cost much at all.

Timing:                                             

2 hours, 50 minutes – the 2 hours involves marination, you can cut it to 1 hour, but no less.

Ingredients:                                       Serves 6

For the marinade:

5 cloves garlic, minced     1 cup lemon juice (above 5 lemons)    2 cups extra-virgin olive oil    2 teaspoons kosher salt    2  teaspoons ground black pepper    ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (we used a bit more)   ½ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley.

For the grilled chicken, shrimp and vegetables (you can use a grill pan to cook this on your stove top):

3 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts

4 boneless skinless chicken thighs

½ lb. cremini mushrooms, wiped clean

1 red pepper, halved and cored

1 yellow pepper, halved and cored

1 orange bell pepper, halved and cored.

For the Orzo:

1 lb. dried orzo     4 cups chicken stock    1 teaspoon turmeric      ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil      ½ lemon, juiced     1 teaspoon salt     1 teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ cup chopped flat leaf parsley.

Prep:

Combine marinade ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk.

In a large bowl, combine half the marinade with the chicken breasts, thighs and shrimp and toss to combine.  Cover and marinate for at least 1 hour – refrigerate if marinating for longer.

Heat a grill to medium high or heat a grill pan over medium-high on your stove top.

Toss the mushrooms with 4 tablespoons of the marinade.

Cook:         Note:  The orzo will take about 12 minutes to cook, the chicken about 16 minutes to grill, the peppers about 10 minutes and the mushrooms and shrimp about 2 minutes on each side.  You may want an assistant.

Grill the chicken breasts and thighs to an internal temperature of 165 F.  Cook the peppers, mushrooms and shrimp as suggested.  Meanwhile . . .

Cook the Orzo:   Bring the chicken stock to a boil, then add the orzo and cook until tender but firm, stirring from time to time.  Drain and transfer to a large serving bowl.  Add the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and turmeric and toss.  Add the parsley and toss again.

Assemble and serve:

Spoon the orzo onto a large serving platter and arrange the chicken, shrimp and vegetables on top.  I like to serve with a lemon wedge for each diner.