What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

This has been such a beautiful weekend.  We have eaten many of our meals out on our deck.  It makes for a wonderful day!  Eating outside just makes it more relaxing!  

We even decided to grill out on Sunday – something we don’t usually do, for time’s sake.  But I had a turkey tenderloin and knew it wouldn’t take more than about 25 minutes to cook, and grilling always makes the flavor so much better.  This was a good decision! 

Here was my full menu:

I found a recipe on Myrecipes.com  for a rub to put on the turkey breasts.  That made them soooo good.  I’m wondering what else I could put this rub on…perhaps chicken and pork. Here’s the recipe for the rub:

Spice-Rubbed Grilled Turkey Tenderloins

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 to 1/2 tsp. ground red pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground coriander

1 1/2 pounds turkey tenderloin

2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Preheat grill to 350° to 400° (medium-high) heat. Stir together first 6 ingredients. Brush turkey tenderloin with olive oil, and rub with brown sugar mixture.

2. Grill turkey, covered with grill lid, over 350° to 400° (medium-high) heat 10 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest portion registers 165°. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

The grits casserole was a new recipe from Cooking Light.  I love grits, so this piqued my interest.  It’s an unusual side dish and was pretty good.  It needs a little tweaking.  I think I’ll try it again and use chili beans instead of the white beans.  The sun-dried tomatoes really didn’t do anything for it, in my opinion and are quite expensive.  I think I may leave them out next time.  We liked the dish – but will make those few adjustments next time.

Grits Casserole with White Beans and Rosemary

4 (1-ounce) slices French bread or other firm white bread, cubed
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

7 cups boiling water, divided

3 ounces sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups vertically sliced red onion

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt, divided

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 (19-ounce) can cannellini beans or other white beans, drained

1 1/2 cups uncooked regular grits
2 tablespoons butter

Cooking spray

Place bread in a food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs measure 1 cup. Combine breadcrumbs, cheese, and parsley in a small bowl; set aside.

Combine 3 cups boiling water and sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl; let stand 10 minutes or until soft. Drain tomatoes over a bowl, reserving 1 cup liquid.

Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, rosemary, crushed red pepper, and garlic; saute 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and reserved 1 cup liquid. Bring to a boil; cook 7 minutes or until most of liquid evaporates. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, black pepper, and beans.

Preheat oven to 400°.

Combine 4 cups boiling water, 1 teaspoon salt, grits, and butter in a large saucepan. Cook 8 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly. Pour grits mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon tomato mixture evenly over grits; top with breadcrumb mixture. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until golden.

Honey-Glazed Carrots
 
1 pkg. (16 oz) baby carrots – I used large carrots cut into matchsticks
Cover with water in saucepan and cook until knife can be inserted easily.

2 Tbl butter
2 Tbl honey
1 Tbl lemon juice
Melt butter in another saucepan.  Add honey and lemon juice and cook on low, stirring constantly for 5 minutes.  Add carrots; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until glazed.

Have you been eating outside where you are?  What has been cooking in your kitchen?

From my parsonage kitchen,