Welcome Home Morgan

We hosted our first official family dinner on Sunday to welcome home my sister from school. The menu was an ode to the end of summer and beginning of fall. I would cook every dish again and therefore want to share each recipe with you.

For the menu....drum roll please.....

Appetizer-Jalapeno Thingies (a la Colleen)

Supper- Grilled Marinated Lemon Chicken, Mayonnaise Biscuits, Roasted Caprese Salad

Dessert- Peach Cobbler

JALAPENO THINGIES

-Colleen Williams

(These were gone in .5 seconds and would be perfect for a football party where there are lots of hungry males.)

You will need:

20 fresh whole jalapenos

2 cubes of cream cheese, softened

1 pound bacon, sliced into thirds

Cut jalapenos in half, lengthwise (use gloves if you have them!)

Remove seeds and white membrane- leave a little if you want to leave some spiciness.

Smear softened cream cheese into the scooped out jalapeno.

Wrap with bacon piece.

Secure thingies with a toothpick.

*You can freeze them at this point if needed

Bake at 375 degrees on a pan with a rack for 20-25 minutes or

Broil for a couple of minutes if the bacon isn't brown or crispy enough for you.

GRILLED MARINATED LEMON CHICKEN

You will need:

1 whole chicken, spatchcocked *I'll explain

1/3 cup olive oil

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary leaves

black pepper, freshly ground

1 lemon, halved

How to Spatchcock a Chicken

According to Martha Stewart, this technique is "similar to butterflying but is specific to preparing a whole chicken for grilling or broiling".

1. Rinse the chicken and remove insides.

2. Set the chicken, breast side down, and use a sharp knife or kitchen shears to cut along the backbone to remove it.

3. Flip the chicken over, then press down firmly on the breastbone with you palm to flatten (or break the breastbone.

Now that your chicken is spatchocked (awesome word), you may proceed with the next steps.

Sprinkle the chicken with kosher salt on each side.

Combine the olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary and 1 teaspoon of pepper in a ceramic baking dish large enough to hold the chicken.

Add the chicken and turn to coat.

Cover the dish and refrigerate for at least 4 hours but as long as over night.

Turn chicken once or twice.

Time to Grill-

Heat grill as hot as it will go but make sure to create an indirect heat source (ceramic plate or move coals to one side).

Place chicken skin side up and grill for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Weigh down the chicken with a ceramic dish (the one you used to marinate).

Turn chicken skin side down and cook for another 12-15 minutes.

Throw some lemon on the grill just before chicken is ready.

Move chicken to a cutting board and let rest under aluminum foil for 5 minutes.

Cut chicken in quarters.

Sprinkle with coarse salt.

Serve rustically on a cutting board with grilled lemon halves.

*Please note: These photos don't do this chicken justice.

So, I LOVE homegrown tomatoes in the summer. Not sure what is going on around the south but I have not had a single good tomato this summer- not from my house, farmers market, Publix anywhere! Thankfully my mom turned me onto this recipe that makes use mediocre tomatoes. The dish is so yummy that I would make it even when tomatoes are at their best!

ROASTED TOMATO CAPRESE SALAD

You will need:

12 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise, seeds (not cores) removed

1/4 cup olive oil

1-1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed

2 teaspoons sugar

Kosher salt and fresh pepper

16 ounces fresh salted mozzarella

12 fresh basil leaves

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

Arrange tomatoes on a sheet pan, cut side up.

Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Sprinkle with garlic, sugar, salt and pepper.

Roast for 2 hours or until the tomatoes are caramelized and concentrated.

Layer cooled tomatoes on a tray with sliced mozzarella.

Julienned the basil and sprinkle on top.

And we are still eating...

If you want to serve hot homemade bread for your family or friends but don't have time to yeast rolls or biscuits that need hours of kneading, whip up these EASY and yummy biscuits. They are more fluffy then dense but satisfy the need for hot bread on the dinner table.

FLUFFY MAYONNAISE BISCUITS

You will need:

1 table spoon oil

2 cups self-rising flour

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brush muffin tin with oil.

Combine flour, mayonnaise, milk and sugar in a bowl.

Spoon into muffin cups, filling about 1/2 way.

(You can spoon directly onto an oiled sheet pan)

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve warm with butter.

As Ina would say, "How easy is that?"

For the grand finale...

Tomatoes may have been a let down this summer but the peaches pulled through. What to do with an abundance of ripe summer fruit? Make a cobbler!

PEACH COBBLER

You will need:

5-6 ripe peaches, peeled and sliced

1-1/4 cups sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup milk

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon cornstarch

3/4 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Place peaches in 9x9-ish dish.

Mix together 3/4 cup of the sugar, flour, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Add milk and melted butter and mix well.

Pour batter over peaches.

Mix remaining 1/4 cup sugar, cornstarch and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in small bowl.

Sprinkle over the batter.

Evenly pour the boiling water all over.

Bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.