Grilled Jerk Chicken

4 tsp curry powder
4 tsp ground cumin
4 tsp paprika
3 tsp ground ginger
3 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp coarsely ground pepper
4 bone-in chicken breast halves with skin (8 ounces each)
4 chicken thighs with skin (4 ounces each)
               
In a small bowl, combine the first eight  ingredients; rub over the chicken pieces.  Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.  Grill the chicken, covered, over indirect medium heat for 30 – 40 minutes or until juices run clear.  Yield:  4 servings

Normally I cook with boneless, skinless chicken but this recipe called for bone-in with skin.  I removed the skin anyway because we have just gotten use to eating our chicken that way and plus it's healthier.  Now this recipe has a LOT of spices but I have to say that I didn't really taste all of them once it was done.  To me, it could have used a little more salt.  It smelled good while it was cooking and looked really delicious and it was, you just need to either salt it at the table or maybe and another 1/2 tsp to the rub.  It was easy to prepare and you didn't have to make a mess in the kitchen to put it together and clean up was a snap!

Special Grilled Veggies

1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning
1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed (I used fresh green beans)
1 large red onion, sliced and separated into rings
1 large sweet red pepper, cut into strips
1 large sweet yellow pepper, cut into strips
In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the first six ingredients; mix well.  Add the vegetables and turn to coat.  Seal and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight, turning once. 
Drain and reserve marinade.  Place vegetables in a grill basket or disposable foil pan with slits cut in the bottom.  Grill, uncovered, over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.  Turn; baste with reserved marinade.  Grill 5-8 minutes longer or until the vegetables are tender.  4-6 servings

Here is another easy to prepare and clean up dish.  You add all the ingredients to a large zip lock bag and I just cooked it on foil on the grill so there wasn't anything to clean up.  I substituted green beans for asparagus because I am not a fan of asparagus.  (there is a story there but I won't go into it right now :)  This would make a great side dish next to anything you cook on the grill.  Fresh, tasty and healthy. 

Plum Good Summer!

Well readers, if you have been keeping up with me on Facebook you are aware of the bumper crop of plums I’ve had this year.  I have harvested 138 pounds of fresh, juicy, sweet delicious plums from just one tree.  It’s been about four years since we have had a good crop of plums and in all the years I’ve had the tree we have never had a crop this good.  One of the first things I wanted to plant when we moved to the country was a plum tree.  When I was a little girl, my grandmother had a plum tree right outside her back porch door.  Every year she would make the best plum jelly you ever ate.  I wanted to be just like her in many ways and so I planted the plum tree with the intentions of making jelly for my family just like she had made for hers.

		2012 Plums VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

My freezer is now stocked with 7 gallons of juice ready to be made into jelly.  It takes four cups of juice to make a batch so my dad and I figured that there is enough to make at least 56 pints of jelly.  Needless to say, everyone in the family, everyone that’s a friend of the family and maybe even a few strangers will be getting a jar of jelly from the Davis kitchen this fall. 

My niece and I were joking around the other day about how I could greet people with a jar of jelly.  A jelly for any occasion if you will.

“Merry Christmas, have some jelly"

“Congratulations on the job promotion, have some jelly”

“Past your exam, have some jelly”

“Having a bad hair day, have some jelly”

“Happy Anniversary, have some jelly”

“Sink clogged, have some jelly”

Well, you get the picture.  I could start an ‘any occasion jelly’ business.  Celebratory Jelly, Sympathy Jelly, New Baby Jelly, Bon Voyage Jelly.  Jelly for all your special needs.

I will begin the jelly making process as soon as my new Ball Jam and Jelly making machine arrives in the mail.  Just ordered one today thanks to a link sent to me by my sister in law who is also expecting her supply of jelly in the near future.  As soon as the machine arrives and I make a trip to Sam's for 100 pounds of sugar, those jelly jars will start rolling off the assembly line real soon.  Stay tuned for pictures and recipes!