Thinking and Cooking Spring

Sunday was such a gorgeous, 53 degree day! I really had spring fever so my dinner reflected that for sure. We broke out the grill for Cornell BBQ Chicken Skewers, made pasta salad, and a Berry cobbler with last summers frozen berries (all recipes below). What better way to dream spring and summer!

Cornell BBQ Chicken Skewers with Red and Pablano Peppers

BLT Pasta Salad

Buttermilk Wild-Berry Cobbler

Recipes:

This is the most amazing chicken BBQ marinade. It tastes best when you use bone in/skin on Chicken and then cook it over a wood or charcoal fire, but I used boneless chicken breast for the skewers. 

Cornell BBQ Sauce

Developed by Robert C. Baker, Professor at Cornell University

1 cup cooking oil 

1 pint cider vinegar
3 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 egg

Beat the egg, then add the oil and beat again. Add other ingredients and stir. The recipe can be varied to suit individual tastes. Marinate for no less than 2 hours, but up to 24 hours.

BLT Pasta Salad

Hay Day Country Market Cookbook

8 -10 ounces pasta, cooked, rinsed, and drained

1 pint cherry tomatoes, rinsed and cut in half

6 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced

1 cup packed arugula leaves, rinsed and torn into bite size pieces

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

coarse salt and black pepper to taste

8 thick cut slices smoked bacon cooked in oven until very crisp

1. In a chilled bowl, combine pasta, tomatoes, arugula, and scallions.

2. Whisk oil, mustard, lemon juice and vinegar together in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and toss into pasta and vegetables. Crumble in the bacon, toss, and serve. Can be made a day ahead, but if you want crisper bacon, add just before serving. 

Buttermilk Wild-Berry Cobbler

Hay Day Country Market Cookbook

Fruit

4 Cups mixed fresh (I used frozen picked from last summer) Berries: strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries (or any combinations of these as long as you have 4 cups)

2/3 cup sugar

finely grated zest of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Biscuit Topping

1 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

4 tablespoons sugar (1/2 tablespoon reserved for topping biscuits)

5 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

1 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. 

2. Prepare the fruit: Gently rinse and drain berries. (I used frozen berries, so I defrosted them before mixing) Hull and slice strawberries. In a mixing bowl, toss berries with sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and cinnamon. Spoon into a 8-9 in. deep-dish pie plate or baking dish, and bake in the middle of the oven until juices begin to bubble around the edges, about 10 minutes. (My fruit was still cold so this took longer. I increased the heat until is started to bubble, and than turned it back down to 375 F).

3. Meanwhile, prepare topping: Stir and toss flour, baking powder, baking soda, and 3 1/2 tablespoons sugar in a mixing bowl. Work in the butter with a pastry blender or tines of a fork  to form a coarse meal. Stir in buttermilk and toss gently with a fork until combined. Do not over work. The batter will be somewhat lumpy. 

4. Remove berries from the oven and drop large spoonfuls of batter over the fruit, about 1/4 -1/2 inch apart. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 tablespoon of sugar, and bake until topping is nicely browned and puffed and cooked through, about 20-25 minutes. Cool on a rack and serve. 

I served mine with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It was delicious!!