Lamb Kabobs with Homemade Tzatziki Sauce

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day! Ours was full of warm sun, good food, and one too many drinks in Virginia Beach. Now that the weekend is over, I can officially get started on my favorite summer things: wearing white jeans, eating outdoors, and attending my favorite foodie festival of the year -- the Richmond Greek Festival.

This is the 38th year of the festival, which is amazing - 38 years of Greek wine, gyros, pastries, and more. I mean, they even have a drive-through window...so if there isn't time to wander the festival, I can still get your fix of Greek food. But believe me, I am making time for this event! I attended a few years ago and am so looking forward to this year! In honor of the festival, which starts tomorrow, I wanted to share an easy Greek recipe I recently made for Mother's Day. These lamb kabobs, paired with a homemade, cool, creamy tzatziki sauce, are simple and delicious - exactly what a summer meal on the grill should be.

Since I had five mouths to feed, I went to the South of the James farmer's market one Saturday and purchased two pounds of boneless lamb leg from a local farm. I let it thaw overnight and the next day, I cut it into 1- 1 ½ inch cubes (or at least attempted to). If you aren't a fan of lamb, chicken or steak can easily be substituted and will still taste yummy with the tzatziki sauce.

The marinade is simple - combine rosemary, garlic, oregano, lemon juice and olive oil in a bowl. Toss the cubed lamb in and make sure it gets nice and coated. Let it marinate for about 4 hours.

While that's marinating, make your tzatziki sauce. It's ridiculously easy and fun to make. I've never grated a cucumber before and it was interesting. Combine Greek yogurt, a little sour cream, grated English cucumber, lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, dill, and garlic in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.

Start chopping up any veggies you want to include - I used zucchini, grape tomatoes, and red onion.  Any combination of these veggies, peppers, mushrooms, or other onion could be used - whatever you're in the mood for.

And, here comes the fun - the skewering! Alternate threading the veggies and lamb onto metal skewers. If you're using wooden skewers, make sure you soak in cold water them for 30 minutes before grilling to prevent them from catching fire. I know we're all welcoming the summer heat...but no one needs that much.

Brian did a fabulous job grilling them on medium heat for about 13-14 minutes. Brush them with a little bit of the marinade as they grill to get some extra flavor.

While Brian grilled, I cooked rice pilaf and cubed a hunk of Feta cheese. We layered it up -- rice pilaf, kabob, feta, and tzatziki. It made almost 14 kabobs...so we were enjoying this food all week!

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Lamb Kabobs
makes at least a dozen

• 2 lb. boneless American Lamb leg or shoulder, cut into 1-1 ½-inch cubes
• 24 grape of cherry tomatoes
• 1 large purple onion, sliced
• 3-4 large zucchini, cubed
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bunch of fresh oregano
• A few sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper

1. Combine garlic, oregano, lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl. Season marinade with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add lamb cubes; toss to coat.

2. Cover and marinate in refrigerator 4 to 6 hours. Drain meat cubes; discard marinade.

3. Thread lamb, tomatoes and onion onto skewers. Grill on medium heat for 12 to 15 minutes or to desired degree of doneness; thermometer should register 145 degrees F for medium-rare, 160 degrees F for medium or 170 degrees F for well.

4. Turn kabobs several times, brushing with marinade. Serve with rice pilaf, warm pita bread and Tzatziki sauce.

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Tzatziki Sauce
makes about 4 cups; would recommend halving the recipe 

• 1 tablespoon chopped dill
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 16oz plain Greek yogurt
• 1 hothouse (or English) cucumber, grated and squeezed dry with paper towels
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

1. Combine the yogurt, sour cream, cucumber, lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, dill, and garlic in a large bowl.

2. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

3. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.

DIY Map Picture Frame

After what felt like years of packing, moving, and unpacking, we realized we had about four things to work with in regards to decorating our new apartment. We gave several rooms a good paint job, but the place still needed more love...something to make it look homey. I was searching Pinterest for a creative way to incorporate one of my favorite pictures of Brian and I in Brooklyn. I needed something cute, easy and that used minimal supplies. And, I didn't want to stick a picture in a boring old frame - we have plenty of those (who doesn't?)

I found the perfect project in this simple Map Picture Frame; great for showcasing a favorite city or country in your home.

What you need:

• A picture
• A picture frame with a thick mat
• Map
• Mod podge
• Paint brush
• Scissors

I made a frame for my sister for part of her graduation gift and put in a goofy picture of her and her roommates. I searched high and low for a decent map of this little college town. Even though she's leaving us for Wyoming next week, I hope this frame makes it in her suitcase out there and serves as a reminder of her great times at Virginia Tech. Not like she's going to forget anytime soon, though...honestly. Those memories aren't going away.

I purchased a 5x7 matted frame on sale from Michael's for $8. To make the mat, start by disassembling the frame. Lay your map out in front of you, and start to position the mat over the portion of the map you want showcased. I definitely wanted our old street in Brooklyn on ours, and this was easy because the map of Brooklyn was huge we had tons of space to work with. No matter where we put the mat on the Brooklyn map, something noteworthy would end up on it. Brooklyn is cool like that.

As I was working with the map of Blacksburg for my sister's frame, I realized (not that I didn't already know) the town is small and it actually didn't fit the frame! I had to pick and choose which areas of town I wanted on each part of the frame - bottom, top, left, and right. If I didn't, as you can see above, the mat would basically just be a lot of white space...aka, farmland. No gracias.

With a pencil, trace the inside and outside of the mat on the map, making it dark enough so you can see. Take scissors and carefully cut the outline. Starting in one corner of the mat, brush on a light layer of mod podge. If you use too much, bubbles will appear (happened to me), so a few strokes is plenty.

With as much precision as possible, carefully lay your map, or map pieces, onto the mat board. If you're worried about fitting an entire rectangle on without messing up, I'd recommend working with them in pieces for better precision. I put a little mod podge down, then the map, then some more podge, then the rest of the map strip. If you're working with pieces, take your time to make sure they are lined up to each other properly and the edges are trimmed.

Brush a top layer of mod podge once the piece is assembled.

Allow to completely dry.

Once the mat board is dry, place back into your frame. Place your picture securely behind the mat board and return the back onto the frame.

A beautiful and unique conversation-starter in your home!

Sue's Famous Potato Salad

Searching for the best potato salad recipe for your Memorial Day foodie festivities? Well, search no further. Brian's mom has perfected the potato salad, and now I'm able to share the famous, frequently-requested recipe for you to serve at all your summer picnics and cookouts.

(or for dinner with porkchops)

In my opinion, the secret to a great potato salad is great mayonnaise. I've said it before, but get yourself some Duke's. I'll ship some to you. I mean, if your'e going to be eating potato salad you might as well go big or go home. I could also eat hard-boiled eggs for days, I love them so...and this recipe calls for plenty of 'em.

Potato salads are so easy. Add enough water to a large pot to cover the potatoes, keeping them whole. Add ½ to 1 teaspoon salt to the water and bring to boiling over high heat for about 20-25 minutes. I always scoop one up and poke it with a fork - if it goes through easily, they're done. If you encounter resistance, let them boil for a few more minutes.

Meanwhile, chop 6 hard-boiled eggs and 1 bunch of scallions. The scallions add nice color and crunch to the salad. Mix together 1 cup mayo and ½ cup Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard until it turns light yellow. If you're making a smaller batch, you definitely won't need all that dressing, so you will want the amount you plan to make to be 1 part mayo, ½ part mustard.

Drain the potatoes in a colander and cool them laid on the counter. Make sure they are very cool before handling; there's going to be a lot to slice! Cut them into quarters and add them to a large bowl. Slowly stir the mayo/mustard mixture in with potatoes, eggs, and scallions until well coated. Salt and pepper to taste.

I think it's best after being chilled for an hour or so. Happy Memorial Day!

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Sue's Famous Potato Salad

• 1 bag of small white or red new potatoes (round)
• 1 bunch of scallions, chopped
• 6 eggs, hard boiled
• 1 cup Duke’s Mayonnaise
• ½ cup Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard 
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil potatoes in large pot until tender, about 20-25 minutes. Drain and cool. Cut into quarters and add to large bowl.

2. Slice the boiled eggs and add to bowl. Add chopped scallions.

3. Mix mayonnaise and Dijon mustard. The mixture should be light yellow. Slowly stir this mixture in with potatoes, eggs, and scallions until well coated. Salt and pepper to taste.

DIY - Wine Cork Magnets

Is your refrigerator running? You'd better go...never mind, that is definitely the worst joke in the book. I love refrigerators, well, really only the food inside...and occasionally the items on the outside. My fridge is currently sporting cheesy magnet decor, ranging from a NYC yellow taxi to an old Geico Caveman slogan. 

I'm also running out of magnets, as they seem to be holding up a lot of wedding/engagement events these days. So, I recently decided to put some of the many wine corks I have laying around to good use and turned them into something useful - wine cork magnets!

What you'll need:

• Wine corks
• Exacto knife or other strong, small kitchen knife
• Magnets - I used strip magnets with a sticky side but think a heavy duty round magnet would be more useful
• Super glue (if using a heavy duty magnet)

I picked out a few cute corks from my collection, and worked the Exacto knife into the cork lengthwise.

Then, since my magnet strip had a sticky side, I simply cut enough to fit half of the cork. Note: the strip magnets aren't very strong, so if you are planning on actually using these as magnets and not just for decor, splurge for the bigger magnets from the craft store and use superglue to get them to stick to the cork.

Repeat the steps for the other half of the cork, and you're done! This is a great quick project that would be a great way to save that cork from a special event, that vineyard you visited, or just from your favorite bottle of wine.

I packaged these up and tied them with a burlap string as a cute DIY Mother's Day Present, too. Are these on your fridge yet, Mom?

Happy DIYing!

Graduation Present Ideas

I saw a lot of cute graduation pictures on Facebook and Instagram this weekend, and knew graduation season was here. I immediately shut them all out of my head, trying not to think of the amount of time that has passed since my own high school and college graduations. I've (we've) done a lot to be proud of since then, but time is flying and it's scary!

With many more graduations happening over the next two months, I asked myself: what does one get for the graduate who has everything (or, more realistically these days, nothing)? Here are some graduation present ideas, from my brain to yours.

Baked Potato Wedges with Herbs

Summer, my favorite season, is right around the corner. Its hard to tell with the cool temps, clouds, and rain Richmond has had recently, but it is close. If you haven't already dusted off your grill, you might want to get on it. We've been grilling burgers, steak, kebabs, and corn so far and plan to keep that pattern going as long as we can!

Cut in thick slices and baked at high heat for a crisp outside, these baked potato wedges with herbs are the perfect side for a spring or summer grilled meal. They're fabulous served with a beer, burger, and your choice of ketchup or roasted garlic aioli on the side.

Thanks for the inspiration, Ina!

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Baked Potato Wedges with Herbs

• 2 large baking potatoes, unpeeled
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
• ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
• 2 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 teaspoon oregano flakes

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Scrub the potatoes, cut them in half lengthwise, then cut each half in thirds lengthwise. You'll have 6 long wedges from each potato. You can cut thinner if you desire.

3. Place the potatoes in a large bowl and season with the olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, oregano and rosemary. With clean hands, toss all the ingredients together, making sure the potatoes are covered with oil. Spread the potatoes in a single layer sheet pan, lined with aluminum foil, with skin side down.

4. Bake the potatoes for 30 to 35 minutes or until they are lightly browned, crisp outside, and tender inside. Serve hot.

The Best-Ever Caesar Dressing

Netflix is dangerous. The binge-watching of commercial-free TV shows that occurs in our house is just not normal...or maybe it is? As I'm writing this, I'm watching episode after episode of a favorite show: Parenthood. The show (which if you haven't seen -- get on it) is about the dynamic of a big, California family (the Bravermans) and how the Braverman matriarchs, their four children, and their grandchildren interact with each other. It's heavy on the theme of the importance of family; I love it. It also doesn't hurt that dreamboat Dax Shepard is a main character...

The show always gets me thinking about family, so I decided to share a family recipe that we've had at holiday dinners since...forever. It's a simple, classic Caesar dressing, great on some lettuce as a side to a juicy steak or beef tenderloin, but we like to turn it into a main course with a Classic Chicken Caesar Salad.

This dressing is super easy to make. You probably have most of the ingredients in your kitchen - egg, lemon, cheese - except for the anchovy paste. It sounds weird and definitely looks weird, but it's a key ingredient. 

Take a liquid measuring cup and pour in ½ cup extra virgin olive oil. Add an egg, a small glove of garlic or two (depending on how garlicky you want it) ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese, ¼ teaspoon anchovy paste, the juice of a lemon, lots of pepper, and salt to taste.

Mix until blended with a hand mixer. A five-speed standard blender won't do (I've tried). Thank you Tante Lisa for getting me mine :o) After blending the ingredients together until it's thick, give it a taste. Lemon and garlic and pepper should taste strong. If one is lacking, and add more of what you like until it's perfect. Adding more cheese will thicken it up. I've sometimes used Pecorino Romano in place of Parm - also great. I've made this so many times that I'm warning you to be careful with the garlic. Once I added four cloves (why?) and it was extremely tangy. Start with one clove and add more to taste.

Then, chill it for a little while in the fridge before mixing with crunchy, romaine lettuce. We also like to top it with some (more) shaved Parmesean, grilled chicken strips and homemade croutons (recipe below!).

  

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The Best-Ever Caesar Dressing

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil (enough to thicken)
• ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• ¼ teaspoon anchovy paste
• 1 egg
• 1 or 2 small cloves garlic, minced
• 1 juice of lemon
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine ingredients in large measuring cup. Mix with electric hand mixer.

2. Refrigerate to thicken.

3. Toss with Romaine lettuce and croutons.

Homemade Croutons

• 1 loaf of bread of your choice (French bread, sourdough or garlic loafs are my favorite)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Garlic powder, Italian herbs, and black pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Toss bread crumbs with olive oil and seasonings. Spread evenly onto baking pan.

3. Bake for 15 minutes, or until crisp. Check frequently to prevent burning. Cool before serving on salad.

Mascarpone French Toast Bake

Have I mentioned I'm not a morning person? I wanted to get this amazing French Toast Bake recipe to y'all ASAP, but my alarm went off Monday morning and that lovely feeling of being hit by a bus overwhelmed me. I knew that (most) productivity for the day was lost.

So thankfully for you and me, Tuesday is here. I'm much more alert and ready to share one of the best things I've eaten for breakfast since those New York bagels I miss so much - an easy, make-ahead, layered French Toast Casserole.

Breakfast dishes that can be prepared ahead of time are a gift, and this one took less then 15 minutes to prepare the night before. When morning comes, grumpy me can just throw it in the oven and magically, in about 45 minutes, my mood is bound to change. This recipe has a special little surprise that makes it stand out from the other breakfast casseroles out there - Mascarpone cheese.

Mascarpone is essentially the cheese used in tiramisu - so if you like a nice, creamy, milky, slightly sweet cheese layered between two baked pieces of Texas Toast, you will love this.

Here we are, 9 p.m. Saturday. A few glasses of wine deep.

And 11 a.m. Sunday. A few cups of coffee deep.

Add a dusting of powdered sugar and a nice drizzle of maple syrup to finish it off beautifully. Serve this with savory sausage, fresh fruit and tangy mimosas for a tasty Mother's Day brunch!

 

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Mascarpone French Toast Bake

• ½ cup melted butter (1 stick) 
• 1 cup brown sugar 
• 1 loaf Texas toast 
• 5 eggs 
• 1½ cup milk 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• Powdered sugar and cinnamon to taste 
• 1 8 oz container Mascarpone cheese 

1. Melt butter in a medium-sized microwaveable bowl. Add brown sugar into the melted butter and stir together. Pour into 9x13 pan, spreading evenly to cover the bottom.

2. Whisk together five eggs in a large bowl. Add milk and vanilla to egg mixture. Add 1 tablespoon powdered sugar to egg mixture (optional).

3. Spread even layer of Texas Toast on butter and brown sugar layer. Add dollops of Mascarpone all over the top of the bread layer. Ladle half of the egg mixture on to the bread and Mascarpone. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over the egg. Spread second layer of Texas Toast, ladling the second half of egg mixture. Spread thin layer (or scatter a few chunks) of butter over the top of the toast. Sprinkle lightly with white sugar & cinnamon. Refrigerate overnight.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Top should be crusty, middle should be soft and moist. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy.

Fish Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Crema

My obsession with fish tacos began in college when I was expanding my palette and trying great new dishes all over town (I honestly ate chicken fingers, burgers, and buttered noodles until I left the house at age 18). But Cabo Fish Taco (if their name doesn't make it obvious) turned over a new leaf for me. Located in Blacksburg and Charlotte, their menu features delicious fish taco entrees, usually involving deep-fried white fish, shredded cabbage, and a creamy white sauce.

This is the holy fish taco trinity. For our family cookbook we created last year, Brian's aunt contributed a recipe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit would all approve. We decided to make these one warm spring evening and pretend we were on Cabo's patio, sippin' on a Workman's margarita or two. And, in anticipation of Cinco de Mayo and all the unhealthy, fried Mexican foods to choose from, we wanted to share a healthy dinner recipe that you and all your amigos/amigas will enjoy.

For the crema, you'll want to mix all eight ingredients (green onions, fresh cilantro, mayo, sour cream, lime rind and juice, salt, garlic) together in a small bowl. Set that aside in the fridge to chill.

For the tacos, we purchased a bit over a half pound of tilapia and it made four tacos. The recipe calls for 1½ pounds of fish which would make a filet. If you aren't a fan of tilapia, just make sure you get firm white fish, such as halibut, snapper, cod, mahi mahi, or catfish.

For the taco seasoning, combine cumin, coriander, paprika, red pepper, salt, and garlic powder in a small bowl.

Place the fish on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray or drizzled lightly with olive oil so it doesn't stick. Sprinkle some olive oil on the fish and then spice mixture evenly over both sides of fish.

Bake for 9-10 minutes, until fish flakes easily with a fork, or until desired degree of doneness. Ours took around 11 minutes because our oven is just funny like that.

Place the fish in a bowl and break into pieces with a fork. Heat your tortillas according to package directions and divide the broken up fish evenly among them. Top each with shredded cabbage (or sliced in my case - still unsure how to shred cabbage) and crema to your liking. You should also top it with chunky guacamole.

For a little heat next time...I think these would be good with siracha!

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Fish Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Crema

Crema:

• ¼ cup green onions, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 3 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
• 1 teaspoon lime rind, grated
• 1½ teaspoons fresh lime juice
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 garlic clove, minced

Tacos:   

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander 
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ¼ teaspoon ground red pepper
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1½ pounds red snapper or tilapia fillets 
• 8 (6-inch) corn or flour tortillas
• 2 cups cabbage, shredded

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  To prepare crema, combine first eight ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

2. To prepare tacos, combine cumin, coriander, paprika, red pepper, salt, and garlic powder in a small bowl.  Sprinkle spice mixture evenly over both sides of fish.  Place fish on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.  Bake for 9 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.

3. Place fish in a bowl and break into pieces with a fork.  Heat tortillas according to package directions.  Divide fish evenly among tortillas; top each with ¼ cup cabbage and 1 tablespoon crema.