Let’s face it everyone… chicken legs are ugly. Really, there is nothing at all picturesque about a chicken leg sitting on a plate. In fact, I almost nixed sharing this recipe with you for two main reasons.

1. This is a delicious recipe, however it comes no where close to the amazing Oven Baked Chicken Legs I posted awhile back from Chaos in the Kitchen. Don’t blame this Garlic Chicken Leg recipe though… nothing I ever bake that has to do with chicken legs will EVER come close to those oven baked chicken drumsticks from Chaos in the Kitchen. It’s a fact. I know this before I even try any other chicken leg recipe. Trust me. That is one delicious recipe.
2. Chicken Legs / Chicken Drumsticks are just plain ugly. Trying to take a pretty picture of ugly food is not at all easy. Try it sometime. It’s hard, I say…really hard. My picture above is proof.

Why am I sharing this recipe with you then? Three reasons.

1. I kind of felt sorry for this picture, sitting alone in my food photography folder, looking at all of the other photos being chosen and wondering “why not me?” Lesson learned…ugly photos need love too.
2. This recipe is so simple. Like most Crockpot chicken recipes, you can just throw it in the crockpot and run away, leaving the flavors and seasonings to party with the chicken all day and then at dinnertime, you have a tasty and delicious meal.
3. Last but not least, even though this slow cooker chicken leg recipe is not as good as the baked chicken leg recipe from Chaos in the Kitchen, it is nice to have another recipe for chicken legs to fall back to on those days where we want something different than our current standby. (Although my kids would probably disagree that we ever would need to digress away from the baked chicken legs. That is one recipe that everyone in my family will eat 2nd and 3rds on!)

If you love your Crockpot and you love chicken legs, even though they are kind of ugly, I think you would love this recipe. The chicken legs may not be pretty, but they sure are tasty!

Super Garlic Chicken Legs for the Crockpot / Slow Cooker (Adapted from Food.com – and yes… this die hard Recipezaar user is having a hard time adjusting to the site change, in case you are wondering!)

• 6 chicken legs (more or less as needed)
• 20 garlic cloves (papery skins left on)
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons oil

The post Ugly Food (Recipe: Garlic Chicken Legs for the Crockpot / Slow Cooker) appeared first on Dine and Dish.

One of the difficult things about being a food blogger, and when I say difficult I mean that in the loosest of terms, is remembering that not all things you cook have to be new and exciting. It is okay to revisit some old favorites every now and then.

Don’t you find that to be true as you are planning your menus? You want to have something new to blog about, so you fill up your menu with recipes you haven’t tried before in order for you to have some new content for your blog. Pretty soon, some of the recipes you love that you had blogged about before are buried under the pile of new recipes and you soon forget they even existed.

This weekend, I planned my menu for this week but was stumped as to what to have on Sunday night. I sent a shout out into the wonderful world of Twitter for meal ideas when the lovely Melanie, from Southern Comfort in a Northern Life, said she was making a recipe I had on my blog years ago for Grilled Pork Chops with Garlic Lime Sauce. Intrigued, because I honestly forgot about that recipe, I went to check out my very own blog to see what she was referring to. Sure enough. I saw the recipe for Grilled Pork Chops with Garlic Sauce and instantly remembered how much we had loved it!

Take this as a gentle reminder that newer isn’t always better. Don’t ignore your archives. Sometimes, a treasure that you may have forgotten about awaits you!

Pork Chops with Garlic Lime Sauce (Originally from Epicurious.com)

1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon dried hot red-pepper flakes
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
6 (1/2-inch-thick) boneless pork chops

Whisk together lime juice, garlic, red-pepper flakes, and 1/4 teaspoon salt, then add oil in a slow stream, whisking well. Whisk in cilantro.

Prepare a gas grill for direct-heat cooking over medium-high heat. Pat pork dry and season with salt and pepper. Oil grill rack, then grill pork chops, covered, turning over once, until just cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes total. Serve drizzled with some vinaigrette, and with remainder on the side.

Cooks’ note: If you aren’t able to grill outdoors, chops can be cooked in a hot lightly oiled large (2-burner) ridged grill pan over moderately high heat.

Makes 4 servings.

Gourmet
July 2007

The post An Old Favorite (Recipe: Grilled Pork Chops with Garlic Lime Sauce) appeared first on Dine and Dish.

I’m excited to announce that I have a recipe you are sure to love being published in a new cookbook called Thinkfood (brain fitness recipes from food bloggers in collaboration with Postit Science).  The Thinkfood cookbook includes 50 brain healthy recipes in one vibrant, full-color book from some fantastic food bloggers. I’m excited to be included as a part of such a great collaborative effort.

The cookbook features snacks, appetizers, sides and salads, main course and desserts. For your viewing pleasure, you can actually get all 50 recipes emailed to you over the course of the next several months. (However the hardcover version of the book comes out around July 13th, and you can get on the notification for pre-ordering by clicking on this link!) This week, the recipe I submitted, Garlic Salmon Over Spinach, is being featured as the recipe of the week. To sign up to receive the weekly email featuring a different Thinkfood recipe, head over to the Postit Science webpage and get on their free weekly email list.

Make sure you follow Thinkfood on Twitter and become their fan on Facebook to stay in tune with all of the brain healthy news and updates.

On a separate note, don’t forget to head over to this post to enter to win one of several Laguiole Meat Carving Sets I’m giving away.

The post The Thinkfood Cookbook (Recipe: Garlic Salmon Over Spinach) appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Everywhere I go these days, it seems like I run into people who are trying to find balance in their lives. I am among those searching for the perfect balance between home/work/family/fun. I have to say, I’m not doing such a great job of it lately. Work seems to be taking on a life of its own, and balancing that with the family and fun stuff is taking a lot more skill on my part.

I have often wondered what the secret is to life balance. How do those of you who are really good at balancing do it? I have a feeling that part of it is being willing to say no to things, and I know that is something I struggle with. I recognize that achieving it all is not possible, but figuring out what exactly I am willing to let go of is difficult.

There are certain parts of my life where balance comes easy and usually that has to do with cooking. When I am in my kitchen cooking, I feel balanced. I feel like I really have my stuff together when I make a meal. Because, let’s face it… knowing what’s for dinner and actually getting it on the table can be one of the first areas to go out the window when your life is out of whack. If I want to feel even just a tad bit accomplished, I cook.

My friend Candace called one time and asked, “What exactly is a clove of garlic?” As I was explaining to her that garlic comes in bulbs, and a clove is a piece of that bulb, she started laughing. “No wonder my salsa tasted horrible. The recipe called for 3 cloves of garlic and I thought a clove was the whole bulb, so my salsa had 3 bulbs of garlic instead of 3 cloves!!” Ohhhh… talk about out of balance flavor! I love garlic and all, but I am not sure that I could even down something with three bulbs of garlic in it!

Balance is a tricky thing, even in cooking. Too much of one thing, no matter how tasty, and it can throw everything else out of balance. Just like life, with cooking, balance is important.

One of my favorite salmon recipes, Garlic Lovin’ Salmon, takes the flavor balance just to the brink of over the top. This simple and delicious recipe takes on the power of garlic and combines it with lemon and pepper to achieve the perfect combination of flavors. If I could achieve perfect balance like this recipe, life would be good!

The post Garlic Lovin’ Salmon appeared first on Dine and Dish.