Back to the grind! I am back to the office today and back into wearing long pants. Vacation was great and it finished off with a visit to the parade on Friday and a Super party on Saturday. For the party, I prepare a pretty simple menu as I wanted to have foods that my niece would love. She has a limited selection of food items to say the least and is very comparable to a kids menu.

The menu consisted of pepper crusted pork loin served with a peach apple chutney, grilled sweet potatoes and carrots with a brown butter reduction, boiled and grilled corn, panko and Parmesan crusted homemade chicken fingers, homemade garlic cheese fingers, simple berry and nut salad, smashed potatoes and a couple of grilled turkey breasts with a tangy blueberry sauce.

I chose to share the turkey with blueberry sauce recipe today because – well I think it was pretty tasty.  Turkey breast is something I over look at the grocery store a lot so I thought it would be fun to give it a whirl.  Turkey is very healthy for you and one of the leanest meats on the planet.  Pair it with a tangy blueberry sauce as the gravy and zesty was a happy camper!

Ingredients

Turkey Breast

• Turkey Breasts (2)
• 3 Sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1/4 Cup of Vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. Hoisin Sauce
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 Tbsp. Soy sauce
• 1/4 Cup Olive Oil

Sauce

• 3 Cups Blueberries
• 1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. Butter
• Hint of lemon juice
• Dash of sugar ( if needed)

Method

1. Combine all ingredients except the turkey in a large bowl and mix together
2. Toss turkey breasts  in a large ziploc bag and pour marinade over and let sit as long as you can.  It can sit the night before or even a few hours before grilling
3. Preheat grill to medium heat.
4. Place turkey on the grill, skin side down and leave until skin is crispy and does not stick on the grill.  Turn over and continue cooking.
5. Once almost cooked through, remove from heat and move to the side of the grill with the burners off.  Let sit until juices run clear and cooking is complete
6. Remove from grill and let rest on plate before carving.
7. For the sauce, heat sauce pan over medium heat and add the blueberries ( reserve 1/2 cup) and vinegar and let cook down.  About 12 minutes ( stirring occasionally)
8. Once reduced, add the sugar and lemon juice and continue cooking for 3 more minutes
9. Add the butter and reserved blueberries just before serving and stir through for 1 minute
10. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: The key to succulent turkey breast every time is ensuring the meat has a chance to rest.  This will allow the juices to crawl back to the center of the meat.  Do remember that the meat will continue cooking once you remove it from the heat.   You do not want to over cook it!

I thought I would share with you some photos ( Note I took 108 but didn’t want to overwhelm you) from the parade.  It was a great time and the kids had a blast.  The BBQ after the parade was my favorite part… surprise surprise!

Parade Shots

Have a super Monday and if you are just starting vacation – I am JEALOUS!  If you are back at it today, keep your chin up and keep smiling.  I will talk to you on Wednesday where I think I will announce something really exciting for the month of September for Zesty.  Want to know a hint?…. you can be a part of it!

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Mamma Mia this was good!  Oh Hi, I got a little side tracked as I was looking at the pictures from last night’s supper.  Before I left for work, I took out some chicken breasts ( bone-in and skinless) for supper.  These big morsels of flesh turned into something…. well AMAZING.

As you know from reading the blog (or not), I am not one to toot my own horn about something really being ridiculously good but I h ave to say the combination of apricots and lemon jazzed up with some fresh ginger made a bland chicken breast SING.  To go along with the chicken, Mrs. Zesty made a trip to the market and snagged some yummy sweet corn and a few sweet potatoes.  A little heavy on the starch but oh my I was happy.

Here is the way this went down.  About 5 minutes to prepare all this stuff and about 20-25 to grill everything off.  I first prepared the glaze for the chicken and lubed up the corn with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

Ingredients

• Chicken Breasts ( Bone-In skinless )
• 2 Tbsp. Hoisin sauce
• 3 Tbsp. Apricot preserves
• 1/2 Tsp. Grated ginger
• 1/2 Tsp. Black pepper
• Juice of 1 lemon ( grate zest in as well )
• 4 Cobs of corn
• Salt and Pepper
• Olive oil

Method

1. Preheat grill to medium heat
2. In a bowl, combine hoisin sauce, apricot preserves, pepper, ginger and lemon and mix together
3. Place chicken on top of grill and let sear on first side.  Once the grilling has started, I start basting the chicken with the sauce because it is up off the direct heat and will not burn.





4. Turning the chicken once, after about 10-12 minutes, continue to baste the other side, slathering it on.  You can do no harm.



5. For the corn, husk the corn and prepare them for the grill
6. Toss in olive oil, salt and pepper and place directly on grill.  Stay close as they will brown up quickly.  Once they begin to brown, give them a quarter turn and continue all the way around.  Once they are all golden brown to your liking, place them up top to ensure they cook through.
7. Once chicken and corn are complete – you are ready to roll.
8. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When cooking chicken on the grill, the best word of advice is cook it up top on the grill or using in direct heat.  Especially if you want to use a glaze with sugar like I did.  Otherwise the outside will burn burn burn and the inside will be undercooked and squawking at you.

On a different front…. check out the new grass. It is coming in excellent after just 4-5 weeks. I already cut it once and it needs to be mowed again. I just had to show you.

I hope you have a great Wednesday. After work I am going to cook with a very “popular” chef for a piece at the annual potato festival. I will fill you in with all the details on Friday.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Hello from Charleston, West Virginia.  Yesterday was a busy day in Mississippi and right after the client meetings I drove back from Tupelo to Birmingham Alabama to fly out of this morning.  The flight times just worked out a little better from Birmingham than Memphis. Right after the client meetings we decided to take a quick drive down the road to Elvis’ old house where he grew up and visit there for a few minutes.  Very fun and I even picked up a couple of souvenirs.

I am dying to share this recipe with you since last Thursday, not because it is stellar and earth shattering but simply due to the fact that it tasted amazing and was super easy to prepare.  I really love quesadillas and have featured a couple of my favorites in the past:  Super Simple Stunning Quesadillas and  Chicken Asparagus Pesto Quesadillas.

This recipe is up there with flavor and simplicity.

Ingredients

• Bbq Chicken
• Whole Wheat Tortilla
• Red peppers
• Basil
• Monterrey Jack and Cheddar cheese (shredded)
• Bacon
• Mushrooms

Method

1. Cook off bbq chicken, bacon and mushrooms and set aside.  ( you can use left overs if you have them as well )













2. Line up the tortilla and start assembling the filling



3. Add all the ingredients and finish with a good layer of cheese on the top to help the top tortilla to stick.





4. Grill over medium heat – moving as needed to achieve a nice golden brown color.  Gently press on the outside of the quesadilla to force the edges to connect from the cheese.
5. Flip over and repeat the process.
6. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: If using mushrooms in quesadillas, I feel it is crucial to cook them down to remove the water from the mushrooms.  Otherwise they will make your tortilla soggy and cause it not to crisp.

I am hanging here in Charleston for a couple of days so let me know if you guys know of good places to eat here and I will be sure to check them out.  Have a superb Wednesday and I will talk to you back at home on Friday.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty