August 22, 2020

WEEKLY MENU 08.23.20

We’re still enjoying the summer during the Weekly Menu 08.23.20 with grilling, more grilling and some meatballs.

Full disclosure: I am not a big sweet eater, But Bert? he has a GINORMOUS sweet tooth. He’s the reason we have dessert every Sunday night. Don’t get me wrong – I always have a taste, but the lion’s share goes to the boys.

Individual Treats Rock.

I love serving cookies, candies, and other treats that are self serve. (Especially for a crowd or for a party.) If we have some spectacular cake or pie (or hot fudge sundae), I have to prep everyone’s dessert. One individual treat I don’t serve too often? Cupcakes. Why? Bert thinks they’re a waste of space. And they don’t have near enough frosting on them.

Cupcakes have been around for almost 225 years.

The earliest extant description of what is now often called a cupcake was in 1796, when a recipe for “a light cake to bake in small cups” was written in American Cookery by Amelia Simmons.^[1][2] The earliest extant documentation of the term cupcake itself was in “Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats” in 1828 in Eliza Leslie‘s Receipts cookbook.^[3][4]
Wikipedia

It looks like they’re here to stay, so Bert is going to have to get used to them. I’m doing my part to help with a delicious Black Forest Cupcake. And I’ll smother them with frosting (stabilized whipped cream, actually) then top with a crunchy treat: the Food Network Magazine has a super recipe for “Chocolate Shell”, which is usually an ice cream topping. We’re going to add it to our cupcakes.

Basic Chocolate Shell Topping: 6 ounces chopped chocolate or chocolate chips, 1/4 cup refined coconut oil. Combine in a double boiler and melt. Mix well, and let the mixture cool for 15 minutes or so before spooning on top of the cupcakes. You can refrigerate any leftovers (sacrilege!) in a glass or plastic container and reheat it in 10 second intervals in the microwave. I think even Bert will enjoy these.

Leftovers figure prominently in the Weekly Menu 08.23.20 too.

Have you ever tried Beer Can Chicken? It’s super easy, moist and absolutely delish. You basically season a chicken and perch it on a beer, in it’s can, on the grill. How bad can that possibly be? It’s made with a full chicken though – and we all really, really like the breast meat the most. (Ha! I said breast. Can you tell I’ve got three sons?) So we’ll make two chickens and use the leftover (mostly dark meat – don’t tell anybody) on Tuesday: we’re having a fabulous looking Italian/Mexican mashup called Southwest Chicken Lasagna Rolls.

Party Time!

Doesn’t Pork Milanese sound crazy cool? All we’re doing is pounding a pork chop until thin, breading it very lightly with panko breadcrumbs and sauteing until cooked through. We’re serving it on a bed of mixed baby lettuce that has been dressed with olive oil, a little squeeze of lemon, kosher salt and pepper, and a final drizzle of honey. It is elegant but fast and easy enough for a Wednesday.

Enough talk~

WEEKLY MENU 08.23.20

The Beer Can Chicken is from The Chew. We found the Grilled Sweet Potato Slices on Simply Recipes. The Chili Lime Butter Corn on the Cob is via Tidy Mom. The Black Forest Cupcakes are from Barley & Sage. The Creamy Parmesan Dressing is (again) via A Forks Tale. The dreamy looking Cheesy Southwest Lasagna Roll Ups are from A Spicy Perspective.

What were we eating in years past during this week? Thanks for asking!