My Cup Overfloweth . . .

My cup overfloweth . . . or at least my herb garden does!

We even abandoned it for 11 days of 95F+ heat with no rain, no watering and it thrived!

The only thing not completely happy is the mint. It's in front. You can see that we still have plenty for Greek salad and mojitos though so I'm not worried.

School has already started here in the Greater Kansas City area but the heat certainly hasn't dissipated.

So after the kiddos were settled on the buses some girlfriends and I decided to assuage our grief over the separation with cocktails and pool time.

And snacks! Gotta have snacks!

After buying school supplies for three and shipping various electronic devices to my Airman I had no money for anything but emergencies. Now, generally I do find the need for good snacks an emergency but I was trying to control myself and decided to dig around the house and check out what I had on hand. I considered it a challenge.

Two packages of cream cheese! Woohoo! Ding, Ding, Ding! Cream cheese just screams party to me.

I was raised in a household where cream cheese and cream soups were never, ever used for meals.

Between the cream cheese and all those herbs I just knew I could make a spread of some sort. These were my friends! They'd be kind. They'd just avoid it if it wasn't good.

I wanted just one large clove of garlic. It'd give it a garlic undertone but it wouldn't be the star of the dip. Mince it up! I just throw mine into a dry work bowl of a food processor that is running. I'm lazy.

Then I peeled some tarragon leaves off of them stem and threw them in too.

I threw them in and they promptly flew to the sides and stuck. So I had to stop and scrape everything down to the bottom . . .

Now a little salt. It'll help release the oils of the herbs . . .

Now for some thyme! Just drag your fingers down the stem . . .

Some beautiful fresh basil . . .

A little scallion . . .

A tad bit of olive oil just to get things moving and mingling while it whirls around.

Now for the cream cheese!

Now for a little taste! Hmm, the cream cheese is so rich and creamy it can handle a LOT more herbs.

Thyme in all its bright bitterness reminiscent of Thanksgiving! Basil with its grassy, aromatic, Italian flavors!

Tarragon with that lovely anise flavor! It'll remind you of fennel, liquorice, and Italian sausages!

After I got the flavors right I added some smokey ground chipotle pepper. You could just add a shot of Tabasco if you like. It just makes the cheese seem cheesier.

Tarragon ended up being the star of this dip. It was creamy, cold, and herbalicious. It was like pesto met its girlfriends Italian sausage and cheese lasagna for a GNO!

Creamy Herb Dip

1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground chipotle pepper (optional)
1 scallion, chopped finely
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, finely chopped*
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh tarragon leaves, finely chopped*
1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves*

Mix all ingredients together.

*If you don't like really strong herb flavors start out with just small amounts of these herbs. You can always add more. Since they're fresh the flavor of the dip really isn't going to get a lot stronger while it sits. If you want it "greener" add some flat leaf Italian parsley.

Ugli Chicken . . .

My kids are wanting me to buy all sorts of interesting things at the grocery store lately.

Things like "ugli" fruit. Aptly named isn't it?

It improves slightly upon opening. The aroma is pure sunshine though! Like a tart orange . . . a lemony orange . . .

So I said to myself . . . "Self! Listen up! We are making chicken . . . chicken with citrus . . . and soy . . . and HERBS don't forget the herbs!"

I thought . . . that doesn't really sound like anything I've heard of before . . . Then I heard "Self! That's ridiculous! It will have a small Thai influence! The Thai love salty, sweet, bitter, hot, sour stuff!"

I thought . . . okay . . . why am I always so rude to myself?

I need a doctor . . .

Let's go ahead and get started on a marinade!

I used a whole tablespoon of coriander seed that I crushed up a little with the handle of my citrus reamer. In the end I wished I had just used the ground stuff. Those hulls are a little . . . chewy . . . to eat.

Copious amounts of garlic are always good!

Soy sauce!

Now to juice that ugli fruit . . . it was amazingly easy!

It was so squishable!

Look at the juice that came out of it! I had to switch bowls!

New bowl! No wonder I now run the dishwasher twice a day.

Chop up some green onion! I recommend you do it smaller than this. Then you don't have to rinse off the marinade before you grill the chicken.

Mince up some cilantro! The tinier it is the more the flavor will soak in.

A little basil . . .

Some mint for freshness!

Toss 'em all in! Now I'll tell you. This stuff is tasty just like it is! You could skip that whole marinade thing and just grill some chicken breasts or whatever your normal way and just toss the chicken in this after it was cooked and really please people! In fact I plan to do that with some chicken breasts soon! It's herbaceous, garlicky, salty, sweet, and sour in one big bowl!

Or, be like me, and get yourself a nice pan full of chicken thighs . . .

 . . . and throw your marinade on. Let it sit in it for several hours. Please disregard the chunky greenery. It's much better if you make it smaller if you're using it as a marinade.

Cook it over "indirect" heat. After 45 minutes it'll look like this. The juice and soy make for some good color! But what if you want an orangey crust? Then you'll want a little glaze for the end.

I took some orange marmalade.

Added a little complexity . . .

Then I made it spreadable with some soy sauce.

Mix it together until its sort of syrupy.

Glaze your chicken and cook it another 10 minutes or so. If you didn't have carmelization before . . . you will now!

Oh, it's too pretty to eat!

Maybe not . . . It's salty and sweet. There's a gentle undercurrent of citrus with a pop or orange on the crispy skin. The herbs add a gentle complexity to the interior meat.

The herbs would of been stronger if I had minced them tinier so they could cling to the chicken through the grilling! You might want to save some and toss them on the chicken after it's cooked.

Ugli Chicken

8 chicken thighs

for the marinade/dipping sauce*
1/2 cup ugli fruit juice, from 1 ugli fruit**
1/4 cup soy sauce
4 large cloves garlic
1 tsp ground coriander
3 green onions, chopped finely
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped finely
1/4 cup basil leaves, chopped finely
2 Tbsp mint leaves, chopped finely

for the glaze, mix together
2 Tbsp orange marmalade
1/4 tsp Asian 5-spice powder
1 Tbsp soy sauce

Mix marinade ingredients together and pour over chicken. Marinade covered in refrigerator for 4-6 hours. Grill chicken over indirect heat for 40-45 minutes and then glaze and cook for 10-15 more minutes.

To make glaze, mix marmalade and spice powder together. Thin with soy sauce until you get a syrupy mixture you can spread with a brush.

*if you wish you can skip marinating the chicken and just use the marinade as a sauce for the chicken after it's cooked. This would be ideal for chicken breasts. For safety reasons you can't use the marinade for both!

**if you don't have an ugli fruit mix orange juice and lemon juice together until you have something that pleases your palate.

Hummus!!!

We needed some munchies between Easter brunch and Easter dinner so I thought I'd whip up some hummus. Did you know my mother-in-law introduced me to hummus 22 years ago? I had never had such a thing before! She introduced me to artichokes too! Oh and fennel and all sorts of interesting things.

So it's only appropriate for me to make hummus for her!

Did you know they're charging $5 for a tub of hummus these days? Goodness gracious! Make your own!

Do you have to have a food processor to make hummus? NO! You could use a blender, a hand mixer, mortar & pestle, or even a bowl and fork. You'll just get a chunkier more "rustic" hummus.

I like to start with garlic. Garlic is always a good place to start!

Mince it up! The tinier you get it the more garlic you'll taste.

Let's throw in some lemon! It'll brighten things up and it helps the garlic give up it's goodness.

Now for some salt. The salt will help break down the garlic too.

Scrape everything down to the bottom so they're mingling. Now we'll leave them to get friendly a few minutes. Let's talk seasoning.

I love the taste of cumin in my hummus and I really love it when there is a few whole cumin seeds in there. It's like little nuggets of bonus flavor in the dip.

Cumin likes heat. Since our hummus doesn't get cooked I'm going to heat up my cumin to get it's flavor a little brightened. I can use less cumin and get more flavor.

Heat it over some high heat until you can smell it!

I went ahead and threw a little powdered cumin in after I turned the heat off. The powdered cumin likes a little heat too and it'll distribute through the hummus quicker. (I want to eat the hummus today after all!) Take the cumin off the heat. If you're using a nice heavy pan such as the cast iron I'm using you may want to put it in a bowl to stop it's heating.

Open up a can of chick peas and rinse them off with some nice cold water.

Throw them all in with the garlic and lemon! We're practically there!

Give it a mix! It'll just break up the beans a little. Now hummus is supposed to have this gorgeous sesame paste in it called tahini. It's wonderfully tasty stuff but I only have one use for it. I like more "multifunctional" ingredients around the house so I make a few . . . substitutions . . . shh, don't tell!

A little peanut butter for it's nutty creaminess.

and a little sesame oil. This is roasted sesame seed oil and it is fantastic. I bet your grocery store carries it! It'd be right near the soy sauce in the Asian section. I use it in Asian soups, stir-fry, and in dipping sauces. The kids even put a few drops in their ramen noodles! Very multifunctional.

Throw them in a blend them up.

Now for a little water to help things get wetter and more pureed.

We're getting there. I like my hummus to be fluffy and light.

Olive oil will fix that!

Now I like a little "kick" in my hummus so I added a tad touch of this too. It's smoky and hot. Some canned chipotle would be delicious too. Sometimes I just throw in a bit of hot sauce.

Now give it a little taste and see if you need more salt. Not all canned chickpeas or peanut butters are created the same. You can even add more lemon if you like. If the lemon is too strong for you then sit it in the refrigerator for awhile and it'll tone down. Fresh lemon mellows with time.

Oh, oh, oh! It's so light and fluffy and creamy! Garlicky, nutty, and spicy. Just a touch of tangy lemon. Perfect for parties or picnics! Serve it on pita, pita chips, crackers, or raw vegetables. Happy munching!

Hummus

1 15 oz. can of garbanzo beans (chick peas), drained and rinsed
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
juice of 1 lemon*
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp cumin seed, toasted**
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp chipotle powder (optional)

Mix salt, lemon juice, and garlic together and set aside for 1-5 minutes. Toast cumin seed.**

Blend all ingredients together using food processor, blender, hand mixer or even by beating and smashing with a fork in a large bowl.

*If you don't like a strong acidic lemon flavor allow the juice to sit out for an hour and it'll mellow. If you love strong acidic lemon in your hummus only add half the juice at the beginning and add the other half immediately before serving.

**If you want to skip the toasting of the seed just leave it out and add a few extra sprinkles of ground cumin.