Chicken Casablanca



Moroccan Lemon Chicken

(Chicken Casablanca)

We are headed to exotic Morocco this week, with a dish that will take you to Casablanca.  It's Moroccan style lemon chicken, slow cooked in a delicious sauce and finished with baby artichoke hearts and green olives.  

Double yum!  I have to say, I think this is my new signature dish.  We had a friend over for dinner who works in recipe development and she asked for the recipe.  And she finished her plate.  Both good signs that you've got a winner, winner, chicken dinner!

This recipe is perfect for a busy summer supper.  The slow cooker isn't only for the fall and winter months. It's a great way not to heat up your house in the summer.  If you're busy, you can set it and - well - ALMOST forget it.    You'll see where I am going with the "almost" when you read the actual recipe. 

I like to serve this dish up with a cold curried green cauliflower salad.   I'll bring that recipe to you another time.  This chicken recipe can be served over Couscous or rice.  Or make a simple salad.  Even garlic smashers would be great if you aren't interested in keeping with an authentic theme. 

Nothing wrong with a little "fusion" meal. 

I didn't have time to preserve lemons in the traditional way.  That would take about three weeks and I'm not that forward thinking lately. 

So, I cheated.  I made quickly preserved lemons; if that doesn't sound like a contradiction, I've got your attention now.  I'm including the process that I used here to give the dish that rich flavor that only preserved lemons can impart. 

If you have them on hand you can use them.  Otherwise, follow my recipe. 

I know you're going to love this dish.   Your family will say, "Make it again, Sam," or George, or Sandy, or whatever your name is.  Yeah.

I suggest using Saigon Cinnamon if you can find it as it has a deeper flavor.  If you don't have access to the wine I used, you can substitute any sweet white wine that you like. 

Here we go:

Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the Quick Preserved Lemons:

8 slices seeded lemon
1/4 teaspoon light olive oil
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

For the chicken:

1 tablespoon Extra Virgin olive oil
2 large split chicken breast halves (one split breast for every two persons)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 cup sweet white wine (such as Lakeridge Southern White)
1/8 cup reduced sodium chicken broth, plus two tablespoons for deglazing pie pan
1 tablespoon frozen salted butter
1 tablespoon freshly minced garlic
1 tablespoon bottled ginger
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon Saigon Cinnamon
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground Turmeric, divided 
1/4 teaspoon Hungarian Paprika or regular paprika
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1/2 cup cold water
7 baby canned artichoke hearts (packed in water), halved
12 green Greek marinated olives, pitted

Other: coconut oil cooking spray (optional but recommended)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Seed lemon slices and place in a skillet brushed with light olive oil.

Whoa!  A little head game there!

Cook over medium high heat until lightly charred, turning once. 

Transfer lemon slices to a ceramic pie plate coated with cooking spray.  Sprinkle evenly with the salt. 

Place in hot oven. TURN OVEN OFF.  Let the lemons sit in the hot oven for about ten minutes.  Remove lemons from pan and reserve.

Add oil to same pan.  Return to heat.  Add chicken breasts one a time, skin side down, to pan and brown.  Do not flip the chicken until the skin naturally releases  (about four minutes).  Brown about one minute on the bone side.

Transfer chicken breasts to the a slow cooker warmed to low (cooking spray optional). 

Deglaze the skillet with the lemon juice, sweet wine and chicken broth.  Scrape brown bits from the bottom of the skillet.  Add in the ice cold butter and the minced garlic.  Reduce about one minute over medium high heat.  Pour the sauce into the slow cooker over the chicken.

Create a paste out of the bottled ginger, sea salt, Saigon cinnamon and white balsamic vinegar by mashing it together with a form.  Brush equal parts on top of each chicken breast half. 

Top the chicken with the mock preserved lemons. 

Deglaze the pie pan with the rest of the chicken broth and add to slow cooker.  This will pull all of that good, lemony flavor from the pan.

Sprinkle with half of the ground turmeric and  all of the Hungarian Paprika.

Cook on low for five hours.

Add the slurry of cornstarch and water to slow cooker along with the artichoke hearts and the olives.

Cover and turn heat to high until the sauce begins to simmer, about 15-20 minutes. IMMEDIATELY turn the slow cooker to warm and let rest on warm for 1 - 2 hours.  This will allow the sauce to thicken up.

 

And as always, enjoy and I'll see you soon!

"Broasted" Beef with Roasted Mashed Potatoes and Veggie Gravy - And Introducing...

I'm back.  It's not without a good reason that I've been absent from posting and here's the reason.  The new addition to our family.   His name is Max.   Like his brother, Eddie, he is a Golden.

His older brother, Eddie, just loves him, although he's established some rules like "Do NOT touch my Milkbone." 

 

Raising a puppy at 52 is a little more challenging then when Eddie was a puppy when I was 38.  But it's worth every minute of lost sleep.

I promised you I'd be back by next week and I actually under-promised and over-delivered.  

I was talking with Dan's cousin, Betsy, about "broasted"  chicken.  I have heard of it but could never  figure out what it actually was.  I know this dish isn't anything like that dish but I thought it was a cute play on words hence the title.  You can call it whatever you want, but I know you're going to call it delicious.

It's chuck steak, slow braised in the crockpot with a combination of tomato soup, broth, herbs and  veggies.   Then roasted in the oven to get this great crust.  Potatoes are added around the roast as it... ummm... roasts, and then  are mashed with Greek yogurt. 

Now one of the ingredients in this might surprise you.  Sour wine,  MK?  Yes, if it was good enough for Julia Child, it's good enough for me.  Yes, I know that when wine reduces it doubles in flavor.  But so does wine vinegar... EHHH... Now you see where I am going with this. 

When I was younger, no wine would go without being consumed in my house.   Now that I am older, we often have an end of a bottle left over in the fridge.  If red wine sits over a week it often sours a bit.  But you can still use it to cook in recipes where you want something a little more acidic than wine but something less acidic than vinegar.  Got it?  I knew that you would.

While it looks like a lot of ingredients, you'll be surprised how super simple this is.

Okay, enough chit chat.

Why don't I just show you the recipe?

Ingredients:

3.5 lb. chuck roast
1 (10.5 ounce) can concentrated tomato soup, lower sodium
1 cup low sodium beef broth
1 medium onion cut into thirds
four large carrots, chunked
2 stalks thick cut celery
1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire flavored grill seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic and herb seasoning
1/4 cup sour dry red wine
1 dried bay leaf
1 bunch fresh thyme (at least 15 sprigs)
8 red potatoes, halved
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon roasted garlic and herb grill seasoning
1/4 teaspoon browning sauce
2 teaspoons  ground Saigon Cinnamon
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 cup 2%  milk
Sea salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Place roast, tomato soup, broth, onion, carrot, celery grill seasoning, garlic and herb seasoning, sour wine, bay leaf into slow cooker.  Place the thyme bunch on top of the meat so that the stems do not fall into the cooker while it's cooking (you are going to remove these later).

Cook on low for five hours.

Preheat oven  to 375 degrees F.

Discard thyme springs and bay leaf.

Place roast in roasting dish with potatoes halved and placed around.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle  with the roasted garlic seasoning.  Brush the browning sauce over the top of the roast and bake for 45 minutes. 

While the roast and potatoes are in the oven, pour the sauce and veggies from the slow cooker into a blender. Add Saigon Cinnamon.   Pulse until smooth.  Pour into a sauce pan and heat over low. 

Remove roast and let rest 10 minutes.

Place the potatoes in a pan and mash along with Greek yogurt, cheese and milk.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve Veggie Gravy over beef and potatoes.   I love this with steamed and sautéed green beans and tomatoes to round out the meal.

See you soon!

Re-post: Easy Pub BBQ Sauce

Easy Pub BBQ Sauce on a Grilled Pork Chop
Great on Chicken, too!

Is "re-post" a word?  Probably not, but you know what I mean.  This is a recipe I've posted before.

I've been busy, busy, busy; so I'll make this post short and sweet - or should say savory?

 

Just in time for the 4th of July, a re-post of one of my reader-favorite BBQ sauce recipes.  This one is so easy, you'll never buy store-bought sauce again.  All you need are items from your pantry. 

 

Mix it up and use apple cider (hard or non-alcoholic) instead of the Irish ale.

 

I hope you have a great (and safe) 4th of July weekend. 

 

Ingredients: 

Makes 6 servings

1/4 cup ketchup
2 tbs. yellow mustard
2 tbs. Heinz 57 ® Steak Sauce
1/4 cup honey
1 cup Irish Red Ale
1/2 tbs. onion powder
1 tbs. Worcestershire Sauce
1 tbs. apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Combine all ingredients into a sauce pan.  Bring to boil and reduce to simmer, about two hours over low heat, uncovered, until sauce is thickened to your liking.  Whisk occasionally.

2 Pepper Mushroom Ragu with Kale

 

Well, another week in the weight loss program and I lost another pound.  Okay, not monumental by any means, but in this case, I truly believe that slow and steady wins the race.  I didn't gain it overnight.  Enough said.

I have been exercising religiously five days a week.  On the weekends, we are so busy between shopping  and chores, I hardly get to sit down until dinner time.  But during the week, I am doing HIIT (High Impact Interval Training  - 20 -30 minutes) with resistance training on those days.

On alternating days I am doing Jillian Michael's "Yoga Meltdown," which I just love.   I am using her "Fast Fix Kickboxing," too as 3 of the HIIT routines.  That DVD is great.  Since I have previous knee injuries, I find kickboxing works for me.  You have to find a routine that works for you.

On the WW program, one of the things that I am learning is how much I deluded myself into thinking my recipes were  "healthy."  Now I think I was headed down the right street.   I never used a lot of salt.   I tried to load my dishes up with fiber, and I do love my veggies.  But there is always room for improvement.  Such is the case with my Mushroom Ragu. 

This is a mushroom ragu "redoux" - kinda.  The recipe is updated and it's healthier than my old version(s) too, which you can find under "vegetarian" meals.  A couple of people asked me to add the labels back in as it's easier to find favorite recipes.  So I did.

 This recipe comes in at  8 points per serving if you are following Weight Watchers (according to their online calculator).  But this is your entire dinner.  The veggies are in there!  It's great for busy days or days when you want or had a splurge and you need to go a little lighter, yet you want something that will "fill you up." 

If you are following the "Simply Filling" program like I am - you will find that certain brands of pasta are considered to be "Power Foods."  That means you do not have to count them in your weekly indulgences.

I will explain to you in another post why I am opting for "Simply Filling" over counting points.

Grated cheese is optional.  But remember to watch what kind of cheese you add as that can make a difference if you are counting points. 

And remember, the pasta is optional, too.  You could serve this over Polenta or even barley.

Note:  This is almost vegetarian as it does include anchovy paste.  You can swap that out for salt or another seasoning if you don't want it in there. 

As a bonus, it's a one dish recipe; perfect for week nights.   Substituting fresh garlic is perfectly okay.  I love fresh garlic, but I had this on hand tonight.  I like the way the garlic paste "melts" in with the anchovy paste. 

Okay - enough chit chat -

Serves 4.
 

Ingredients:

	1 cup(s) fresh portabella mushroom(s), chopped
	1 cup(s) fresh white mushroom(s) - steak cut or thick cut
	1 tbs. light olive oil 1 tbs. garlic paste 1 oz. anchovy paste (can be omitted and replaced with 1 tbs. low sodium soy sauce) Pinch of crushed red pepper, more to taste 1/2 large  Jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced 1 scallion, diced (white, light green and dark green parts, divided) 1 tbs. capers, drained and lightly chopped 15 oz. canned diced tomatoes with juice, drained and reserved 1 tbs. good quality red wine vinegar (such as Cabernet Sauvignon) 1 tsp. Italian Medley no salt seasoning blend (I used Mrs. Dash) Squirt of lemon juice 2 cups frozen kale 8 oz. dry whole grain spaghetti  Chopped fresh mint for garnish, optional Directions: Chop mushrooms into bite sized pieces.  Coat a cast iron pan or a heavy skillet with the light olive oil.  Add the garlic and the anchovy paste(s).  Stir to blend the paste(s) into the oil.  Once combined, add the pinch of crushed red pepper.  Cook for about 2-3 minutes, but be careful that the garlic doesn't burn (it will turn bitter). Stir in the mushrooms and the  Jalapeño.  Brown the mushrooms until golden. Add in the scallion (white and light green parts only).  Cook for one minute. Add in capers.  Cook for one minute. Add the canned tomatoes.  Reserve the juice.  Cook for one minute.  (See a pattern here?  ;.) Add in the vinegar, the seasoning blend, lemon juice and half of the tomato juice.  Stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about five minutes until the sauce thickens.  If the sauce goes too quickly, you can thin it out with more of the reserved tomato juice. Under cook pasta by about one minute per package directions.   Turn the drained pasta into the mushroom sauce and toss.    Top with fresh mint and green parts of the scallion.   Serve immediately.  TIP:  Mushrooms soak up a lot of oil quickly. If you feel like you need more and want to keep this light, I suggest using a little olive oil cooking spray. See you soon!      Product(s) mentioned are not an endorsement.  No product was supplied to blogger.

Lamb Chops Piccata with Mushroom and Capers

 

I love ANYTHING Piccata.  You could boil a shoe and top it with Piccata sauce and I'd probably eat it. 

Well -- maybe not!

But you get my drift. 

The perfect Piccata is lemony and full of fresh herb flavor.  I've seen it made with garlic.  I've seen it made with shallot and without. 

I made this tonight, and I did Robert Irvine's "Happy Dance" when I tasted my sauce.  It was PERFECT!  Just the right acid balance.  Yum!

My recipe is kind of a variation on Piccata but I know you will just love it - especially if you love lamb chops like I do.  Even if you don't like lamb, try my sauce with the mushroom and capers on turkey cutlets or chicken.  It even goes nicely with a tender NY strip steak. 

So, with no further adieu, here you go:

 

Ingredients:

1 lb. bone in lamb loin chops (4 chops)

2 1/2 tbs. light olive oil

2 tbs. chopped garlic

12-15 sprigs of fresh thyme, divided

 ¼ cup lemon juice, divided

2 tbs. cold butter, divided

 

1 cup baby portabella mushrooms, halved

1 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning

½ tsp. ground sage

¼ cup low sodium chicken broth

Splash dry vermouth, optional

1 tbs. chopped capers

Chopped fresh sage

 

Directions:

Marinate the lamb chops in the olive oil (reserve 1/2 tbs.), garlic, 1/2 of the lemon juice, and about 10 sprigs of thyme, partially stripped.  Let marinate a room temperature, covered, for about 30 minutes.

 

Add the remaining olive oil to a skillet.  Let the oil get hot over medium heat and then dump it out, letting the remnants just coat the pan.

 

Add half of the butter to a skillet and melt.  Add in mushrooms and the remaining thyme stripped from the stem.  Sauté until the mushrooms are lightly browned.  Remove from pan.

 

Remove the lamb chops from the marinade.  Pat dry with a paper towel.  Discard marinade. 

 

Season on both sides with a mixture of the lemon pepper and ground sage.  Add chops to hot pan.  Sear on both sides, about four minutes one side, two minutes for second side (remove from heat for the two minutes and let cook in a hot pan) for medium rare.  Cook longer for desired temperature. 

 

Did you get that?  Yes, I flipped the chops, took the pan off the heat and let them continue to cook in a hot pan.

 

Remove chops from pan and let rest.

 

 

Add the rest of the butter lemon juice, the broth, and vermouth, if using, to the skillet.  Deglaze the pan; scraping the browned bits from the bottom.  Add in the capers and return the mushrooms to the pan.

 

Bring sauce to boil and reduce to simmer until thickened to your liking - about four minutes.

 

 

Serve sauce over chops.  Top with fresh sage. 

 

Enjoy and I'll see you soon!

 

 

Mushroom and Zucchini Ragu

My Ragu is Served over Mushroom Gnocchi

 

Every once in a while as a home cook, you make something that you just know is super  delish without getting affirmation from anyone else.  Tonight’s recipe falls into that category.

Last night was my 51^st birthday.  Hubby Dan took me out to our local Japanese restaurant for all-you-can-eat sushi.  We were stuffed to the gills (pun intended).  So much so, we didn’t even touch the cake Mama Pirri bought us.  If you don’t know who Mama Pirri is, you have to read through my other posts.  She is Dan’s mom.

I got hungry for gnocchi when my friend and Dan’s cousin, Betsy, told me that her husband made homemade gnocchi this weekend after sampling them in San Francisco.  That made me recall a time in the Old North End of Boston about 15 years ago when I ate nothing but gnocchi for three dinners (out of choice).  Of course, I was a size 4 back then!

Tonight I bring you gnocchi topped with a delicious mushroom and zucchini ragu.

I found these wonderful mushroom gnocchi at a local store this weekend (Target).  I would highly recommend making this sauce with this gnocchi if you want the “Full Monty” experience. 

The key to healthy eating is to eat a little of what you want with something that’s slimmed down.  I could have made a big beef sauce with these - instead, I opted for this lighter vegetarian meal.

Family Friendly Tip:  If you don’t want to use the wine in the sauce, try low sodium chicken broth and take out 1/2 tsp. of the salt in this dish.

*Notes: 

I freeze fresh basil in that I grow into “basil cubes,” which consists of 1 1/2 tsp. of coarsely chopped basil in each cube along with water.  This is an old grandmother’s trick, but one that works!  If you don’t have basil ice cubes, just substitute fresh basil.

I used petite baby bella mushrooms.  If you cannot find these, use baby bella and cut into eight pieces. 

I used one of those new cool provolone and fontina blend cheeses to top this.  But use any cheese that you like. 

Ingredients: 

1 tbs. light olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup sliced baby carrots
Pinch or two of crushed red pepper
1/2 tbs. chopped garlic
1/2 tsp. dried crushed rosemary
3 basil ice cubes*
6 ounces petite baby bella mushrooms, halved (larger ones quartered)*
1/2 tbs. butter
1/4 cup extra dry vermouth, optional (see notes)
14-15 ounces petite diced canned tomatoes, drained
1 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 cups shredded zucchini, divided

Other:

Sharp Provolone and Fontina pasta blend shredded cheese, optional
Fresh chopped grape tomatoes, optional

 Directions:

Add olive oil to deep skillet, along with yellow onion, carrot, and crushed red pepper.  Sauté for about three minutes until softened. 

Add in garlic, rosemary and one of the basil ice cubes for 1/3 fresh basil.  Cook for about two more minutes. 

Add in the mushrooms and butter.  Sauté for about three minutes until mushrooms begin to brown.   

Add the vermouth, if using;  let cook out about two minutes. 

Add the tomatoes, the salt and pepper.  Bring to boil and reduce to simmer, about 30 minutes.

Note:  Whatever pasta you use, I suggest you reserve 1/2 cup of the starchy cooking water.

Add the cooking water and 1 cup of the zucchini along with the two remaining basil cubes.   Cook over low heat for about five minutes.

 If using fresh basil, wait and garnish at the end. 

 

 

 

Serving Suggestion:  Top with remaining raw zucchini, the cheese blend and fresh chopped grape tomatoes to give this a nice fresh pop. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cherry Tomato Steak Sauce

My Cherry Tomato Steak Sauce
Using Nature Sweet Glory ® Cherry Tomatoes

I know I haven't been updating this blog often lately.  I do have a day job as a professional development specialist.  I love my job. I've been with the company for almost 15 years now.  An e-learning project that I am working on is requiring extra time. 

Lots of new"s" here today.  By that I mean a NEW look for my blog, a NEW hairdo for me, and, drumroll, please...

I won my first cook-off event! 

As many of you who have been with me through the "Just for Cooking" blog days know, I was a finalist in the first ever Beringer Great Steak Regional Challenge in 2010.  And the next year, my novice cook-off husband (that's a joke since I'd only done one  ;.) made the FINALS the following year.  

Hubby Dan and I enter quite a few of the amateur cooking contests.  He's had more success than me in that area.  But I guess there aren't as many of the traditional cook-offs as there were years ago.  Neither of us have much experience in "kitchen stadium." 

In Beringer, I crashed and burned.  This time I was cool and confident-- well, as much as a neurotic like me can be.  I am so ready to apply for one of those "Chopped" amateur specials.

Here is my winning photo from the 9/14/2013 Nature Sweet Glory Challenge in Atlanta:

BTW -  I admit my mistakes in life - and one of them was growing out my hair at age 50.  I guess the Jillian Yoga Meltdown I've been doing made me feel like I was 20.    I IMMEDIATELY went to the only salon in my town which was open Sunday (the day after) and got my hair cut back into the short bob-- hence my new profile pic. 

Out of respect for these great sponsors, I will wait to tell you more about my winning recipe - and the play-by-play "color" commentary about the competition until they post the photos in a couple of weeks.  The coordinator said they are in the middle of planning another event right now.  But they should have an update for us shortly. 

But the "battle of the LaBrie's" continues.  

By the way, these Glory cherry tomatoes are awesome!*  They reduce down slowly, and the skins once they do don't have to be filtered away from the sauce. 

I like to layer in the tomatoes so that I get three levels of texture; reduced, sautéed and finally - that pop that you get when you bit into a fresh tomato.  Oh, yeah!  I want to eat this right now!

My only wish is that these tomatoes were a little easier to find around my area.  I'll have to talk to the Nature Sweet rep about that. 

***************************
Now, for the recipe:

 

I started with a whole container of the Nature Sweet Cherry Tomatoes, halved... 

 

I sautéed 1/3 of the tomatoes in olive oil for about three minutes...

THEN --

 

I added EVOO, 2 tbs. butter along with 1/2 cup dry white wine and 1/4 cup chicken broth and freshly squeezed lemon juice;

I simmered this for about five minutes and then added fresh minced garlic;

                            I added in sliced mushrooms, soy sauce and fresh herbs;
                                                  (And a few other things - see recipe)

 

This is the delicious result! 

It's best on a marinated steak with a smear of goat cheese!

 

 

Ingredients:

 

1 container (10 - 11 ounces) cherry tomatoes, halved

1 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

2 tbs. cold butter, divided

1/2 cup white wine

1/4 cup dry chicken broth

1 tbs. fresh lemon juice

1 clove garlic, minced (about 1/2 tsp. chopped)

2 cups sliced steakhouse style white mushrooms

1 tsp. soy sauce

1/2 tsp. oak smoked sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Fresh chopped basil

Fresh chopped parsley

 

Directions:

 

Add olive oil to pan.  Sauté 1/3 of the halved cherry tomatoes for about three minutes.  Add half of the butter, the chicken broth, the white wine, and lemon juice.  Bring to boil and reduce to a low simmer for about five minutes.

 

Add the garlic.  Simmer for another two or three minutes until the tomatoes begin to loosen and "reduce." 

 

Add in another 1/3 of the tomatoes along with the mushrooms and the soy sauce.  Cook for about three minutes and add the remaining butter.  Cook for one or two minutes more. 

 

Right before you are ready to serve, stir in the remaining tomatoes, the sea salt, pepper and the fresh herbs.  Toss together for less than a minute.  Plate and serve immediately. 

 

Enjoy!  Please let me know what you think about my new blog format. 

 

*Not a paid endorsement.  Product was supplied to blogger by way of a free coupon for participating in a regional cook-off.   

Sizzlin' Sangria Skewers

It's fall and it's time to pick the oranges fresh off the trees here in Florida.  This time of year, I like to look for ways to use these beautiful sun-kissed delights in cooking.

This marinade is great with beef, chicken or tuna.  I  used beef. 

I served this dish over a store-bought beef rice mix with a squirt of orange added while cooking.   That is a great tip for spicing up store-bought rice mixes; add fresh fruit or fruit juice.

I topped the rice with a big mound of stir fry veggies prepared with soy sauce, orange juice, and garlic.   Just a little freshly ground pepper and a pinch of salt was all I needed to finish.

BTW - Add on any veggies that you like to the skewers.  This marinade is great with those pre-packaged skewers that you find in the meat section of your local supermarket.

Ingredients for Marinade:

(For each skewers you will need)

Juice of 1/2 orange
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Juice of one lime
1/4 cup dry red wine or non alcoholic wine
6 whole cloves

Directions:

Combine all ingredients for marinade.  Toss in the citrus fruit rinds. Marinate chicken or beef skewers for thirty minutes, turning occasionally. 

For chicken, you will want to keep the food in the refrigerator.  Beef can be marinated to room temperature as long as it's covered.

Marinate tuna in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Remove from marinade.

Note:  Season the skewers as much as you like. I like to use a liberal amount of Adobo seasoning with pepper before I toss these on the grill pan. 

If you have a favorite seasoning, you can use that. Go ahead and mix it up!

Grill on grill pan over high heat, turning skewers once on each side; about five minutes for medium rare.

Enjoy! 

I will see you soon.  I've got some great low calorie comfort food recipes coming up over the next couple of weeks so stay tuned!

If you like this recipe, check out one of my originals (and one of my personal favorites): http://welcometojustforcooking.blogspot.com/2011/02/corsican-style-beef-served-with-winter.html