Food for the Childless: Grilled Chicken with Stone Fruit Chutney, Savory Summer Salad, Pasta with Asparagus

I have a couple of dear friends whom I share the circumstance of finding ourselves near the middle of our lives, all for different reasons, without children. While our peers are shuttling kids to and from soccer practice, balancing kid friendly dinner menus, packing up lunches, and wiping snotty noses, we are free to contemplate more leisurely quandaries of life, "What's for lunch?"

Didn't I make being free from the shackles of parenthood sound terribly enticing? I am leaving out the hugs, the bedtime prayers, the joy on little faces when they reflect the love you show them. I know that all of the mom's that read this would give anything for one afternoon to live the freedom of a life without something crusty on their person somewhere....almost anything.

Though none of us have chosen this particular freedom, we have come to embrace it. We embrace it by coming together without the burden of having to think of a way to fill a conversation gap between discussions on the prices of diapers and the benefits of a morning nap versus an afternoon nap. Instead we talk about.... FOOD! We talk about where we want to eat, what we want to eat, what we want to create, or try, or what flavors we think sing together. Occasionally we get the beautiful occasion to cook together.

We recently had one of these opportunities. We flew by the seat of our pants and let creativity and the seasons availability dictate our menu. I think that we managed a beautiful symphony of flavor. If food were therapy this was the cure.

Our menu can loosely be defined as:

Grilled Chicken with stone fruit chipotle chutney, Savory Summer Fruit Salad, and pasta for when you forgot the Parm.

Grilled Chicken

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts. Salt and Pepper. Throw on a Medium High grill until juices run clear.

Stone fruit Chipotle Chutney

2 peaches stoned and diced

2 plumbs stoned and diced

3 Tb. of Raspberry Fruit Spread (or any fruit spread you have lying around)

1 Tb. of chipotle in adobo sauce (available in the ethnic or Mexican food isle. You only need the sauce not the actually chipotle)

1/3 cup water

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until fruit is broken down and it lightly coats the back of a spoon. Will thicken as it cools.

Serve Chutney on top or alongside Grilled Chicken

Savory Summer Fruit Salad

While this recipe using only fruit its in no way a dessert or sweet dish since all of the fruits are usually used as vegetables. I like the irony.

A

pint of cherry, grape, or heirloom cherry tomatoes quartered (we used what the garden yielded as this tastes better than almost any food on the planet)

1/2 to 1 Whole cucumber seeded and peeled (we didn't peel and wished later that we had)

About 10 large Kalamata Olives halved

4 oz. Fresh Mozzarella diced into bite sized pieces

a bunch Fresh Basil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Dressing:

4 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 Tablesppons Cider or Balsamic Vinegar (you will get a completely different taste depending on what you choose, we used what we had)

1 clove garlic pressed or diced fine

Salt and Pepper to taste

Toss "fruit" together and dress until evenly and lightly coated. You will most likely have left over dressing. Let sit at room temp for up to an hour or in the fridge for up to a day.

Pasta for When you Forgot the Parm:

The original recipe called for parmesean cheese but some miscommunication lead to us not having any. What do you don in such a situation? Add more bacon.

1 LB spaghetti or linguini/fettuccini cooked to

1 TB olive oil

4 strips of thick cut bacon cut into 1/2 inch strips or diced

1 TB of butter

1 Lb of fresh asparagus (I wish on all that is sprinkly with fairy dust that it was unnecessary to use the word fresh to describe asparagus, as I feel that all canned asparagus should be thrown into a bottomless pit) trimmed of their woody ends, and cut into thirds or bite sized pieces.

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup reserved pasta liquid

2 cloves garlic crushed

A few springs of fresh Basil chiffonade

Boil pasta to al dente and drain. Before draining scoop up a cup of the cooking liquid and set aside.

Render bacon in olive oil on medium heat until bacon starts to crisp. Raise heat to medium high and add asparagus and butter and garlic. Saute for about 5 minutes and add heavy cream. When cream bubbles add cooked and drained pasta. Stir to incorporate and add about half of the reserved pasta liquid and return to a boil. Lower heat and as the pan becomes dry add more and more of the liquid until the entire cup as been added. When pasta is coated and no more liquid remains in pan sprinkle with Basil and season with Salt and Pepper.

I do hope that you use these recipes as a jumping off point to create your own seasonal dinner with friends that you gather to share with.

Best Restaurant in Town: Mom's Kitchen

Ok, I have teased all of you by bragging about my mom's Carne Asada. I know that isn't nice. I am ashamed of my sin inducing behavior. That sin of course, being jealousy. Well, I am about to make that up to you.

Neither of my grandmother's is what I would call a great cook. My mom however is the kind of cook that people rave about. She is also the kind of cook who can never remember what she put in a dish when asked for the recipe. "Oh, a little bit of this, a little bit of that".In recent years she has turned her attention to baking. While this is a joyful direction for many a sweet tooth, its disappointing to this savory addict.

However, one specialty of the house is still available if you have the right pull. Getting her to make the Carne Asada is as easy as dropping not to subtle hints for a few weeks. Getting her to give up the recipe is slightly more complicated. I don't think she is being coy when she shrugs her shoulder's and says "oh its so easy, I just..." then she starts rambling off her "this and that" routine. I honestly think that is the way she cooks. Recipes are simply a jumping off point, a suggestion, a spark to an idea.

All of that to say that with some patience and guidance I got a recipe fit for print and YES, I am going to share it with you. Keep in mind that this recipe might be different the next time she makes it, and she has a tendency to use what's available. She would encourage you to do the same. For instance, tonight she used pork chops because they were on sale. Ok, Ready Set...improvise. Oh, I am throwing in a recipe of hers for short cut salsa, just cuz I love ya.

You will need a medium to large crock pot for this one but little else in the way of equipment. While my mom learned Carne Asada at the side of a senora while living in Mexico, she has found some short cuts that don't compromise the flavor or authenticity while avoiding the need for live fire.

Beef Chuck Roast, Pork Shoulder, or any large (3-5 LBS) slab of meat you have laying around.

1/2 Pkg. Onion Soup Mix

1/2 Medium Onion Chopped

Be sure to put the roast in the crock pot dry. Cook for 6-8 hours until it can be shredded with a fork. Drain the fat (she mentions that you can save this for gravy or any application that your imagination can come up with) and add:

2 small cans Rotel Mild Tomatoes

1 package of Onion Soup Mix.

Continue to cook 1-2 more hours to allow the flavors to marry.

Serve with corn or flour tortillas, salsa, cheese, sour cream, avocados, or hunched over the crock pot with a fork.

Short Cut Salsa

1 Can petite diced tomatoes

2 gloves garlic skins removed

1/2 jalapeño seeded and de-veined (unless you like it spicier)

zest of 1 lemon

juice of half of said lemon

As much cilantro as you can stand

salt and pepper to taste.

Blend this all in a food processor being careful to pulse to get a consistency just short of smooth.

I do hope that you enjoy my mother's cooking as much as I do.