Duchess of Forkasparagus

Independence Day Weekend in Pictures

Duchess of Fork — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 10:45:14 +0000

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a fabulous holiday weekend with your loved ones.

The 4th of July is easily one of my favorite holidays of the year. Nothing beats family, friends and food in the summer heat (and here in FL, most of the activities revolved around or in the water). Here’s a brief recap of our weekend:

We starting things off on Thursday night by having dinner with our friends Natalie and Kevin at their house.

They made an impressive spread of grilled beef tenderloin, twice baked potatoes and roasted asparagus for us.

Check out this awesome clock Natalie and Kevin have in their kitchen. Their last name is Schmidt, so they made this clock on the wall!! I’m obsessed.

Friday night we had a bunch of folks over for a shrimp boil, but I didn’t really take many pictures. I need to get better at documenting events at our house. I guess I get overwhelmed with all of the cooking and entertaining.

Saturday we loaded up the dogs and headed over to the Duke’s Grandpa’s house (on the bayou) for a backyard BBQ.

Can you believe how much Pearl has grown in one week?

The Duke was feeling quite patriotic.

We spent Independence Day on the beach, running in and out of the pavilion, trying to dodge the rain. Let’s just say we got soaked! After coming home to dry off and freshen up, we headed down to Destin Harbor to catch the fireworks from my father-in-law’s big charter boat.

The boat was rocking pretty bad in the harbor…we nearly fell over!

In true family get-together fashion, there was tons of food. I made a fabulous corn pudding and roasted veggies. I loaded up my plate with a bit of everything…including fried chicken.

The fireworks display was amazing…it started pouring just in time for the grande finale, though.

Looks like someone is worn out from the weekend’s festivities:

Hope you all have a great Monday! See you soon. The Duchess

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Easy and Healthy Date Night

Duchess of Fork — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 08:00:43 +0000

Good Saturday Morning! I am so thrilled that it is finally the weekend (although I’ve been up for a while since the Duke and I agreed to personal training at 8:30 am…ugh). I had a fabulous first week of teaching, but the Duchess needs a break! After the gym, I am looking forward to doing absolutely NOTHING today. Don’t you just love lazy weekends? If the weather holds out, I plan on spending this glorious day by the pool. Did I mention the Duke makes a fine pool boy?

I actually borrowed part of this recipe from Weight Watchers Magazine. I’ve been indulging in one too many sweets over the past few weeks, so it’s time to get real and tighten up. I picked up the mag while running around town this week. They featured a great recipe for Italian turkey cutlets. After a long week, I figured this would be a great, yet quick date night meal. I had a whole mess of veggies that needed cooking, so I decided to toss them with a little marinara and parmesan. Voila! A delicious, simple and perfectly healthy date night meal. Don’t tell the Duke about the healthy part.

Italian Chicken Tenders with Spaghetti Veggies

Ingredients

1 package chicken tenderloins
Olive oil cooking spray
Salt and Pepper
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
½ cup Italian bread crumbs
½ onion, sliced into rings
½ bell pepper, sliced
½ cup sliced mushrooms
12 asparagus, cut in thirds
½ cup prepared marinara sauce
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. dried oregano

Instructions

Heat a nonstick skillet to medium-high. Arrange chicken tenders on a plate and spray with cooking spray. Season tenders with salt and pepper. On another plate or shallow bowl, combine ¼ cup of Parmesan with breadcrumbs.
Completely dredge chicken tenders in breadcrumb mixture, shaking off any excess crumbs.
Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet, and add chicken tenders, working in batches if necessary. Cook about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove, and keep warm in a 200-degree oven while veggies cook.
In same skillet, heat about another tablespoon of olive oil. Add onions and bell peppers, and cook until both begin to soften, about 4 minutes. Add asparagus and mushrooms, and season with salt and pepper.
While veggies cook, combine marinara, garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano and remaining ¼ cup Parmesan cheese in a small bowl.
Once veggies are done (when mushrooms are softened and asparagus still have a bit of a crunch), toss in marinara mixture.
Plate veggies, and top with 3-4 chicken tenders per person.

Serves 2

This simple meal is sure to please the honey in your life. Try cooking together in the kitchen for maximum sweetness! The Duchess

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Clean Out the Fridge Night.

Duchess of Fork — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:00:32 +0000

Can I just tell you how exhausted I am? I am making a career switch to become a teacher. I am THRILLED to wipe little noses, calm little fears, and broaden educational horizons for a living! This year I have a great opportunity to get my feet wet, because I’ll be working at a fabulous charter school in our district. I’ll be a Pre-K aide in the morning and with 7th grade in the afternoon. Am I crazy or what? The 7th grade class is a reading comprehension/study skills class, and I get to teach it all on my own. I’m not sure which class will wind up being the bigger babies; the 4 year-olds or the 13 year-olds. Well this is my pre-planning week. We don’t even have students in class yet, but I’ve been coming home absolutely beat! Lord help me next week. It’s going to be a great year, though. We’ve got 18 students in Pre-K; 8 boys and 12 girls (so clearly GIRLS RULE!).

Since I could barely muster the strength to pour a glass of vino when I got home from work Monday, I was certainly not about to tackle a culinary masterpiece. Instead I opted to rummage through the fridge and find anything that wasn’t growing bacteria. Although I guess I could take it into class for science? I’ll make note of that. Finally, justification for buying expensive cheeses, only to see them rot in front of my very eyes! Well, I managed to find pithy asparagus, whole wheat tortellini and even prosciutto…not too bad. I sauteed it all together and it ended up being fantastic. Don’t you love how the meals that take zero brain cells end up being the best? Well, I’ll certainly be making this again. For the vegetarians out there, feel free to omit the prosciutto.

Whole Wheat Tortellini with Prosciutto, Asparagus and Eggplant

Ingredients

package refrigerated whole wheat tortellini, such as Buitoni
2 tbsp. olive oil, divided
¼ cup minced onion
3 oz. package sliced prosciutto, diced
1 clove minced garlic
½ cup white wine
½ cup chicken broth
salt and pepper
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1½ cups chopped eggplant, purple skin removed
12 asparagus stalks, cut in thirds
1 cup fresh sliced mushrooms
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
While water comes to a boil, heat non-stick skillet over medium-high. Add 1 tbsp. of olive oil, onion and prosciutto. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until prosciutto becomes crispy and onions are translucent. Remove from skillet.
Pour tortellini into boiling water and cook until soft, about five minutes, then drain.
In same skillet used to cook prosciutto and onions, heat remaining tbsp. of olive oil. Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Stir in wine and broth and turn to high heat. When liquids begin to boil, season with salt, pepper and pepper flakes. Reduce to medium-high heat.
Add eggplant, asparagus and mushrooms to broth. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes, or until veggies are cooked through.
Stir tortellini, prosciutto mixture and Parmesan cheese into veggies and broth.
Serve with toasty garlic bread and a big, green salad.

Alright, it’s off to school for me. Parent Orientation is tomorrow night. Let me make it through that hump, and I’ll be back later in the week with another yummy recipe! Be sure to follow me, and of course, leave me comments! I love to hear your thoughts.
The Duchess

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