Summery Saturday dinner

Here's what I made for dinner on Saturday! 

Menu:

Grilled baguette with roasted garlic and grapeseed oil

My version of caprese salad

Grilled organic chicken kabobs with Down home with the Neely's BBQ sauce

Veggie kabobs: mushrooms, three peppers, onion

 For my version of caprese salad, you will need: 

Ripe Tomatoes {I buy tomatoes on the vine}

Mozerella

Fresh basil

Italian seasoning

Balsamic vinegar - for balsamic reduction

Grapeseed oil {or olive oil}

 Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Slice tops off of garlic and drizzle with oil. Wrap in tin foil and place in the oven for about 45 minutes. 

Slice the tomtoes and mozerella, thick, layer the mozerella and tomato alternately, on a plate or platter. 

Wash basil and layer leaves from largest to smallest and roll into a "cigar" with the largest leaf of basil on the outside. With a sharp knife, slice into basil ribbons.
 Save the ends of the tomatoes and dice. Add the diced ends of tomatoes to the basil and italian seasonings, salt, and pepper. Drizzle generously with oil {most use olive oil, I use grapeseed oil} and toss with a spoon. Top the mozzarella and tomato plate evenly.

 Slice the baguette in long slices, drizzle with oil, and toast on the grill until desired crunchiness. While grilling, add 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar in a saucepan on medium-high. Reduce by half {1/4 c. finished sauce}  for about 15 minutes. When sauce has reduced, remove from heat and cool. When cool, drizzle moz & tomato plate generously.

Assemble on a cutting board, the grilled bread, hot roasted garlic, and caprese salad.

 

We also made simple veggie kabobs and BBQ chicken kabobs with Neely's BBQ sauce.

 

 For BBQ chicken, simply salt and pepper the chicken and grill until almost done. Then take the BBQ sauce and baste each side evenly and grill about 2 minutes each side. Always soak bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes before using so they burn less or use metal skewers.

 Find Neely's BBQ sauce recipe here. I make a half batch and it lasts about two different BBQ grilling sessions.

 And here it is! Enjoy!

Dijon Marmalade Glazed Ham

Ingredients

• 1 (8 lb.) bone-in baked ham
• 30 whole cloves
  { I didn't use whole cloves, I sprinkled the ham with a bit of clove powder after scoring }
• 1 (12 oz.) jar orange marmalade
  { I used a French marmalade that had NO high fructose corn syrup. I found it to be not quite sweet enough, so I added 1/4 cup sugar and 2 T. agave }
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large baking pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Place ham cut side down in center of pan.
• Trim any rind or excess fat from ham with a sharp knife. Score outside of ham with a sharp knife in a decorative diamond pattern (as shown) and insert a whole clove into each diamond point. Cover pan and ham with more heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake ham for 1 1/2 hours.
• Make glaze: Melt orange marmalade in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Whisk in Dijon mustard and 2 Tbsp. water. Bring mixture to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes, until glaze thickens. Set glaze aside.
• Remove ham from oven and raise oven temperature to 425°F. Remove aluminum foil covering ham and brush warm glaze all over ham. Return ham to oven and bake uncovered until glaze caramelizes, about 30 minutes. { I put most of the glaze on first, but reserved some and added it after about 15 minutes of cooking without foil } Remove ham from oven, tent loosely with aluminum foil to keep warm, and let stand for about 30 minutes before serving.

adapted from myrecipes.com