Quick Ginger Tips
Ginger root is used in many Asian dishes and adds a nice spice to any marinade.

When purchasing ginger, look for a thick root with no dried spots.
All you need is a spoon and a Mircoplane to have freshly grated ginger.
With a spoon scrape off the rough skin.  You can peel only part of the ginger and save the rest for later.
To grate or mince ginger, use a Microplane and grate the area of the ginger you’ve just peeled.
Now you ginger is ready to add to marinades, sauces or a Stir Fry dish.  Enjoy!

Butterflying a chicken breast is a great technique for making a nice pocket to stuff the chicken breast or for reducing the size of the chicken breast allowing it to cook quicker.

Start with a long, sharp knife.  I use a slicing knife. Press your hand on the top of the breast  and with a sweeping slicing motion begin to cut into the middle of the breast.
Once you have a nice pocket, pull up on the top of the breast and keep slicing through.
Try to keep two equal halves of the chicken breast as you continue to slice.
If you want a butterflied breast do not cut all the way through. At the point shown to the right, open the breast like a book and you are ready to use.
If you would like to make Paillards, (two thin halves), cut right down the middle to create 2 halves.
That’s it, you’ve got a butterflied chicken breast!

Quick Garlic Peeling Technique
Peeling garlic can a bit tricky, but with the right technique is can be done quickly and easily.

Remove one clove from the head of garlic.
Place the flat side of a wide knife on top of the clove (the blade should be horizontal and not facing up.
With the palm of your had smash the knife in the garlic clove.
Remove the knife and peel back the papery skin.
Discard the skin.
Now you are ready to use your garlic.

How to Select the Best Clove of Garlic:

• Tight Heads. You want to make sure that the heads of garlic are compact and held tightly together.
• No Green Sprouts. Sprouting garlic is an indication that it is been there awhile, steer clear.
• Firm When Squeezed. Make sure the clove of garlic is firm to ensure freshness.

Don’t have chicken?  No problem, you can easily substitute caned tuna fish, diced ham or Jimmy Dean lite sausage.  Also, you can use canned corn and peas.   I like to make extra and freeze it , then I have a “pop-in-the-oven” meal at my finger tips!

Click here to read more and get the recipe.

Delicious Blueberries on display at a local farmer's market.

My most recent food challenge has been to create recipes around the antioxidant power house, THE BLUEBERRY.  Not too sweet, with hints of tartness, this berry turns out to be quite versatile.  Because this summers sun-drenched crop was so huge, blueberries were plentiful at farmers markets, grocery stores and u-pick farms.

After lugging home case after case of this super fruit, I feel confident about the relationship we share.  Here are some tips on how to get along:

When buying blueberries:
• Look carefully through the package for mold.
• Look for plump dark blue berries.

Storage:
• If you are going to use in 2-3 days, wash thoroughly and let dry slightly and place in a Tupperware container in your fridge.
• Make sure to look for damaged or moldy berries while washing.  If you let a moldy berry into your storage bin it will spread to the rest of your berries.

Recipes:
• If you have several cups of extra blueberries, make them into a Blueberry Compote and use as a topping for pancakes, oatmeal, or Caramelized Onion, and Goat Cheese Bruchetta.
• Take a twist on pizza and try my Three Cheese and Blueberry Pizza.
• Get a double dose of blueberries with the Mixed Greens with Dried Blueberries Tossed in a Blueberry Vinaigrette and Topped with Goat Cheese Croutons.
• The perfect finish to your meal is my Blueberry Crumble desert.

I hope you enjoy these blueberry recipes as much as I did making them.