Exhausted Lovers by Katsushika Hokusai ca. 1810 Two lovers sleeping after their exertions. Note the cat and mice, whimsical visual comments by the artist. A shunga print; shunga means "spring picture," spring being a euphemism for sex. These explicit pictures were issued in great numbers and form an important genre in ukiyo-e. They were technically prohibited, and though the authorities did not normally enforce the ban seriously, artists rarely signed their erotic prints; such prints are normally attributed on stylistic grounds.
Forgive me for going a little blue today with the art print. My only excuse is that I am tired.. So very tired. Yesterday was my 11th wedding anniversary, and I got to spend it with the lovely girl of my dreams. We laughed, we cried, we danced, we ate and the rest you will just have to imagine. But I am just too tired to create a new posting today.
Fortunately, my good blogging buddy, Chris from NIBBLE ME THIS, came through with a guest blog. Nibble Me This is a terrific blog, centered around his family life and his grilling/cooking experience. He does terrific photos (very jealous, but I learn a lot from seeing his presentations); and his recipes are very doable for the average cook (me), but still shows a lot of PANACHE! Take a look at his blog by clicking HERE, and drop him a comment of thanks for helping me to relax. Tonight, I am off to a dinner and show, but I will return to my surreal world tomorrow with an all new blog, as well as the announcement of the winner of my very first contest (tonight at midnight is the deadline to enter).
As a reminder, I am offering a FREE copy of HOW TO GRILL as a prize in a contest I am holding. Please read over yesterday's blog entry for the details... free, free, free! Click HERE for those details for 1st GIVEAWAY CONTEST - FREE How to Grill Book
OK, once again thanks to Chris, take a look at this recipe, it is a beaut. I would really love to hear about any cooks out there who give this a shot, grill or stove, it is pretty, and sounds very tasty...
From Chris at NIBBLE ME THIS...
I was going to write a guest post about grilling/BBQ equipment and how it isn’t the equipment, it’s the cook that matters most. But honestly it came off a bit preachy so I’ll let this quote by photographer, Sam Abell suffice. Granted, he was talking about photography equipment but I promise the same stands true for BBQ cookers, smokers, and grills. “It matters little how much equipment we use; it matters much that we be masters of all that we do use.” Great, now I have to scramble to come up with a meaningful post for My Year On The Grill. I thought I’d take a recipe I made up years ago before I became an outdoor cooking enthusiast and convert it to the grill tonight.
Artichoke My Chicken Ingredients 4 ea chicken breasts, boneless, skinless 1 T kosher salt 1 t minced dried garlic 1 t dried rosemary ¼ t red pepper flakes 4 T butter, melted 1 T lemon juice 1 T butter 6 oz artichoke hearts, drained 14.5 can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic & oregano, drained (or make your own) ½ c fresh basil leaves, stemmed Instructions Flatten chicken breasts to an even ¾” to 1” thickness, season with a dry rub of the next 4 ingredients. This will help ensure even cooking. 
Prepare your grill to a heat of 350f and place seasoned breasts over direct heat about 7-8 inches from the heating element (grid extender on a Big Green Egg or the second level rack on most other grills). After 5 minutes, flip the breasts. After another 5 minutes (10 minute mark), flip the breasts again and brush with a mixture of the butter/lemon. Repeat at the 15 minute and 20 minute marks. Remove from heat at 25 minutes total. Tent with foil to keep warm (the meat….not you. If you’re cold, put a jacket on for pete’s sake). Heat a skillet over your grill or stove top. Melt a tablespoon of butter and sauté the artichoke hearts for 1-2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, stemmed basil leaf halves and simmer until starting to reduce, which will take another 3-4 minutes. 
Top each chicken piece with some of the tomato, artichoke heart, basil mixture. Garnish with some more basil and shaved peccerino-reggiano cheese. Sure, you could do this in the kitchen if you wanted to. But why would you want to when you can do it on the grill? 
Fortunately, my good blogging buddy, Chris from NIBBLE ME THIS, came through with a guest blog. Nibble Me This is a terrific blog, centered around his family life and his grilling/cooking experience. He does terrific photos (very jealous, but I learn a lot from seeing his presentations); and his recipes are very doable for the average cook (me), but still shows a lot of PANACHE! Take a look at his blog by clicking HERE, and drop him a comment of thanks for helping me to relax. Tonight, I am off to a dinner and show, but I will return to my surreal world tomorrow with an all new blog, as well as the announcement of the winner of my very first contest (tonight at midnight is the deadline to enter).
As a reminder, I am offering a FREE copy of HOW TO GRILL as a prize in a contest I am holding. Please read over yesterday's blog entry for the details... free, free, free! Click HERE for those details for 1st GIVEAWAY CONTEST - FREE How to Grill BookOK, once again thanks to Chris, take a look at this recipe, it is a beaut. I would really love to hear about any cooks out there who give this a shot, grill or stove, it is pretty, and sounds very tasty...
From Chris at NIBBLE ME THIS...
ARTICHOKE MY CHICKEN
I was going to write a guest post about grilling/BBQ equipment and how it isn’t the equipment, it’s the cook that matters most. But honestly it came off a bit preachy so I’ll let this quote by photographer, Sam Abell suffice. Granted, he was talking about photography equipment but I promise the same stands true for BBQ cookers, smokers, and grills. “It matters little how much equipment we use; it matters much that we be masters of all that we do use.” Great, now I have to scramble to come up with a meaningful post for My Year On The Grill. I thought I’d take a recipe I made up years ago before I became an outdoor cooking enthusiast and convert it to the grill tonight.
Artichoke My Chicken Ingredients 4 ea chicken breasts, boneless, skinless 1 T kosher salt 1 t minced dried garlic 1 t dried rosemary ¼ t red pepper flakes 4 T butter, melted 1 T lemon juice 1 T butter 6 oz artichoke hearts, drained 14.5 can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic & oregano, drained (or make your own) ½ c fresh basil leaves, stemmed Instructions Flatten chicken breasts to an even ¾” to 1” thickness, season with a dry rub of the next 4 ingredients. This will help ensure even cooking. 
Prepare your grill to a heat of 350f and place seasoned breasts over direct heat about 7-8 inches from the heating element (grid extender on a Big Green Egg or the second level rack on most other grills). After 5 minutes, flip the breasts. After another 5 minutes (10 minute mark), flip the breasts again and brush with a mixture of the butter/lemon. Repeat at the 15 minute and 20 minute marks. Remove from heat at 25 minutes total. Tent with foil to keep warm (the meat….not you. If you’re cold, put a jacket on for pete’s sake). Heat a skillet over your grill or stove top. Melt a tablespoon of butter and sauté the artichoke hearts for 1-2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, stemmed basil leaf halves and simmer until starting to reduce, which will take another 3-4 minutes. 
Top each chicken piece with some of the tomato, artichoke heart, basil mixture. Garnish with some more basil and shaved peccerino-reggiano cheese. Sure, you could do this in the kitchen if you wanted to. But why would you want to when you can do it on the grill? 
First of all...what camera does Chris use? The pictures are so clear and fabulous! Awesome photography skills!
ReplyDeleteThe chicken looks amazing with artichokes and all the different colors! Very clever to use tri-colored pasta with it! :D
This looks sensational!
ReplyDeletePhotos pop off the page!
Burbandslurp - It's a Nikon D-60 (pretty much bottom of the line DSLR type camera) with a 18-55mm lens. I mostly use fully manual controls and natural lighting when possible.
ReplyDelete