What's more simple than garlic sauce, grilled chicken and a tomato/avocado salad? Not much! Well, ok, the garlic sauce can be quite intimidating but if you don't succeed, try, try again!

Here's a simple grilled chicken, consisting of a marinate of olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon, salt, pepper, and my favorite herb concoction called, herbes de provence. It's awesome on grilled chicken. Trust me. Then I found some great firm yellow and orange tomatoes and big avocado's at the grocery store. I know, I know, I need to hit the farmers market - truth be told, they're not quite near me just yet, but soon come June.

For the Chicken:
5 Chicken Breasts, butterflied - thin is cook. They'll cook faster!
4 Cloves of Garlic, Crushed
1 teaspoon herbes de provence
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

Add all ingredients in a marinating dish and add the chicken. This marinate will work great in 30 minutes, but for best results, overnight.

For the Salad:
3 Orange Tomatoes
3 Yellow Tomatoes
1 ripe Avocado
1 Lemon, Juiced
2 Cloves Garlic, Crushed
1/2 Cup Olive Oil
Salt to Taste
Pepper To Taste - You've got to season!!!

Combine the liquids, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl, season with salt and pepper. Make sure it's tasting good, and just a tad salty or lemony, why? Because you're going to get a lot of liquid from the tomatoes and you don't want them dilluting your salad!

Add the remaining ingredients. Note, once the avocados are prepared add them to the dressing - if you don't do this right away, they're turn brown. You need the acid to hit them.
Slice up all the tomatoes, remove the avocado from its shell, slice it up.

So yesterday, I whipped out one of the Tritips I bought from Costco. I have to say, this particular Tritip was tough. That normally doesn't EVER happen. It's rare to get a tritip that's tough, at least in all the years I've been eating it. I think I've come across 2, this being the second.

As I was whipping through my Food & Wine magazine I came across this Asparagus recipe that looked insanely good, so I checked the fridge, yep, we're stocked up on Asparagus so time to start the recipe!

The Asparagus? Check.
The Tritip? Check
Bread to make Garlic Bread? Check.

Since I've made the other items here before (click on their links) I'll speak to the Asparagus. And no, you don't need to boil them first. Let the grill do the work. The taste is tangy with a slight bitterness of the lemon zesy but has the tang of the lemon juice and mustard. It was great. I really liked it. Note, the bitterness, at least in this case, can be overcome by offsetting it with a little more salt - that will balance out the flavors, in my humble opinion. Definitely don't be afraid to try this. It is really good!

Ingredients

1. 1/4 cup mayonnaise
2. 1/4 cup grainy mustard
3. 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4. 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
5. 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
6. 1 garlic clove, crushed
7. 2 teaspoons kosher salt
8. 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
9. 1 pound thick asparagus, trimmed


Directions

1. Light a grill. In a shallow dish, whisk the mayonnaise with the mustard, oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, salt and pepper. Add the asparagus and turn to coat. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2. Grill the asparagus over moderately high heat, turning occasionally, until the spears are tender and lightly blistered in spots, about 6 minutes. Serve the asparagus hot or at room temperature.

Why recreate the wheel? Right? I actually made this and then watch an episode of Guy's Big Bite featuring basically the same recipe. So why bother re-typing it all up? The following is Guy's recipe, earily similar to mine... Hhhmmm... Only real differences? I used Angel Hair Pasta and if I could add one thing, make sure to use FRESH Mozzarella. No, you don't have to make it, but get it from your grocer freshly made. Normally a day or 2 old. Big difference in flavor and texture. Also, use Panko bread crumbs. HUGE difference there is texture. It's more crunchy.

I personally don't understand brining chicken breasts when you're in the mood for a fast meal just getting home from work. This took me about 45 minutes total to throw together.

• 4 (5-ounce) boneless, skinless, trimmed chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups dried bread crumbs
• 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 1/4 pound Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus extra for garnish, grated
• Olive oil, for frying (about 2 cups)
• 1 pound penne rigate, cooked al dente
• Tomato Sauce, recipe follows
• 1/4 cup minced Italian parsley, for garnish

Lightly pound the chicken breasts to 1/2-inch thickness. Combine the kosher salt, sugar, and 1 quart of water in a 1-gallon size resealable plastic bag; shake until dissolved. Add the chicken breasts and soak at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Place the flour in a medium bowl. Remove the chicken from the brine. Shake off excess moisture and, with tongs, lightly dredge the chicken in the flour. Shake off the excess flour and transfer to a large plate.

Mix the eggs and milk in medium bowl and whisk thoroughly. In a separate bowl combine the bread crumbs, oregano, basil, parsley, sea salt, and pepper. Dredge the chicken in the egg and milk mixture with tongs and let excess mixture drain off. Now dredge the chicken into the bread crumb mixture, and lightly pat down in the bread crumbs to adhere.

Preheat the broiler.

Let the breaded chicken sit for 5 minutes before frying. In a medium saucepan on medium-high heat, add enough olive oil to come 1/3 up the side of the chicken. Cook the chicken in batches until golden brown on both sides. Remove from the pan when cooked and place on a sheet tray. Repeat with remaining chicken.

When all the chicken is cooked, sprinkle mozzarella and Parmesan evenly over the top. Place under the broiler until the cheese melts and is golden brown.

Serve chicken over pasta and ladle tomato sauce on top. Garnish with additional Parmesan and parsley.

Tomato Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, minced
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 6 cups peeled and diced Roma tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a saucepan. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and cook until almost brown, then add tomatoes. Saute for 30 minutes over low to medium heat. Add the basil and oregano and continue to cook for 30 minutes longer. Puree in a food mill or let cool and puree in a food processor. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Made this burger for mother's day on the Weber and here's all I'm going to say about the burger:

It's good.
It's great.
It's freakin really good.
You should make it.

Nuff said.

Matt

Recipe
PS: Cook it medium well. Season the beef and mix it up!

1lb Pasta

1 Cup Sun Dried Tomatoes, Sliced
2 Cups Artichoke Hearts, and about 2 Tablespoons of the oil they're packed in
2 Cups Chicken Stock
3 Chicken Sausage Links (mine actually had sun dried tomatoes in the sausage)
1 Cup Heavy Cream
2 Shallots, Sliced Thin
3 Garlic Cloves, Minced
3 Scallions, Sliced Thin
3 Tablespoons Parsley, Chopped

1/3 of a Fresh Lemons Juice!

Salt and Pepper to Taste! Very Important!

This is one of those dishes where you just start throwing things together in a pot and it slowly comes together. A little of this a little of that. Batta bing batta boom. We were in the mood for pasta and something with artichokes and sun dried tomatoes, speaking of which, is anything better than sun dried tomatoes on a nice warm day? Didn't think so. If you can think of something, let me know... ;)

Normally for these types of dishes I'd use olive oil, and good olive oil at that, but something spoke to me, the artichokes and sun dried tomatoes are stored in an olive oil base and that's packed with big time flavor. So use it!

First things first, get your water boiling and add about 3 tablespoons of salt to it. Season it. The pasta will come out perfectly seasoned, and slightly salty - a good thing. Once the water comes to a boil, drop the pasta.

In a saute pan. Slice up the chicken sausage, or really, any kind of sausage you prefer. Add a little of the sun dried tomato oil and/or artichoke oil to the saute pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add the sausage slices and caramelize all over. A few minutes of cooking ought to do it.

Next add the shallots and garlic and sweat them. What's that mean? Cook them until they're soft. Now add the sun dried tomatoes, caramelize them a bit (they'll get a little brown, but not burnt). You're just bringing out more of their sweetness. Then add the artichoke hearts and chicken stock and bring to a simmer. This will reduce and concentrate in flavor. Oh, about 5-8 minutes.

Meanwhile, you're pasta is boiling away... Let it go.

So back to the saute pan. Reduce the heat, add heavy cream, slowly incorporating it and slowly bring back to a simmer. This will thicken the liquid more but because not to let it get to a boil! Otherwise you'll be left with a crummy separated mixture - blah!

Remove the pasta once it's al dente. Don't rinse it! Add it back to the pot it was boiling in OFF the heat. Now squeeze the lemon into the saute pan. What's that going to do? Add a layer of bite! Now add the entire mixture to the pasta and toss. Serve.

Surprise! I'm making a slow come back... As I make up new recipes and try new recipes, I'll try to share them all here. This one just happens to be all mine. Pan Seared Chicken Breast, with Hickory Smoked Bacon Creamed Spinach, Creamy Mashed Potatoes, and a Riesling Pan Sauce. Blam!

Ok, ingredients.

• 4 Chicken Breasts, Pounded Thin.
• Some All Purpose Flour for Dredging
• 1 Bag of Spinach, Not Frozen
• 2 Shallots, Sliced Thin
• 2 Garlic Cloves, Minced
• 1/4 Pound Good Smoked Bacon
  
• 3 Pounds Baby Red Potatoes
• 1/2 Stick of Butter
• About 1 cup of milk
  
• 1 Cup Heavy Cream
• 2 Cups Chicken Stock
  
• 2 Cups of Riesling
• Few Tablespoons of Olive Oil
  
• Salt and Pepper to taste, on everything, duh

Start your potatoes in boiling water. Cook until done.

Start by pounding out the chicken breast. Make them all the same thickness. This way, they could all the same time. Get about 1 maybe 2 cups of all purpose flour and add a big pinch of salt and just as much pepper to it, mix it up. Add and coat the chicken breasts shaking off the excess.

Add the bag of fresh spinach to a sautee pan, something with a cover, add the shallot and garlic, spinkle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Check on it continuously stirring.

Get the bacon rendering in another pan/pot/whatever. Medium heat. Don't burn it. You want it crispy, so be patient.

In a large skillet (thick bottomed) heat some olive oil on medium heat and then add your chicken breasts. Don't over crowd the skillet. If you don't hear a sizzle, the pan is NOT hot enough. Cook until through, maybe 5-7 minutes total. Don't over cook or else it will be dry!

Continuously check on the spinach! It should be at medium heat. And it will render down to about 1/8 it's original size. So by now your bacon should be done. Take it off the heat, cut it up or use your hands and sprinkle it in the spinach. Add about 1/2 cup heavy cream, and reduce heat to a simmer. It will thicken up.

So now you have the spinach almost done.
Chicken breasts done.
Potatoes? Remove, strain, add back to the pot, add the butter and remaining heavy cream. Mash! Season!!!!!

So for the pan sauce! Same pan the chicken was in! Medium heat! Add the wine, scrap up the bits on the bottom - those are yum yums. Once that reduces about in half, add the stock, season GOOD with salt and pepper and let it reduce. That's about it!