Happy Weekly Food Fun to you! My food fun post has now moved to Wednesdays.
I hope you found some fun recipes to make this past week.
I have found myself completely absorbed in Mediterranean recipes.
It has given me a new burst of motivation for trying new things.
There is a lot of citrus, garlic, and new spice combinations I would normally never think of.

My first food fun of the week was finally trying to make cheese.  Not a hard cheese, but a crumbly soft cheese, the recipe calls it Farmers Cheese.   I is really simple, I think it is fun, and although this time I didn’t do any seasonings it can be seasoned with herbs along the way.  Recipe here.

Warmed the milk, I only used a quart instead of gallon since it was my first time and not sure how or if it would work.   I added a little bit of lemon juice, gently stirring, my mind thinking this isn’t going to work.  Then poof… the whey and curds separated.  I was pretty excited.  So off it sits for 20 minutes.

Once rested and fully separated time to strain it.  The whey is the yellowish liquid left behind when the curds separate.  It is great for so many things, yet I have only made biscuits with it.  I need to use it for so many other things, here is a nice list of uses here.

The finished product, ready to enjoy.

I am enjoying the cheese crumbled over salad.  And, I am happy my greens are in full production.  I have mix leaf lettuce that I am happy I planted, it is much better than just one kind of lettuce which I get bored with.  Spinach and Kale is also doing great.  I put spinach in the salads and have found a new tasty dressing. Creamy Balsamic Vinegar Dressing.

The next recipe  Cornish Hens Recipe with Mediterranean Garlic Spice Rub. Well, I don’t happen to have any cornish hens, so I figured a chicken would work just fine.  I am happy to say that it did.  The recipe also calls for cooking in the oven, it was a hot afternoon and I had no desire to turn the oven on that hot.  So I seared the chicken in the cast iron and moved it out to the grill to cook.  When roasting on the grill the recommendation is to use indirect heat.  So I had 2 burners going on medium and the chicken in the skillet off to the side of them.  The grill maintained around 350 degrees.  I cooked until chicken was done, about 2 hours.

The spice blend is wonderful.  Deep rich color, and smelled so good. And seriously, when a recipe calls for 15-20 garlic cloves, yes I am completely loving it.

The chicken skin was nice and crispy, the meat was still very juicy.  I started cooking breast down, and had planned on flipping part way through.  Although, I was happily distracted by some relaxation and then chicken was done.  So even though it wasn’t flipped all the meat turned out juicy.   The side dish was Roasted Greek Potatoes.   These I need to work with a little. The flavor was good, although a little bit tough.  It could have been the potato I used, since all I had was red potatoes, another type may have cooked up more tender.  Or, just cooking on the grill instead of the oven may need more stock which I will try next time.

The finished meal.

What to do with leftover chicken?  Well, I wanted chicken pot pies, although I had no pie crust and didn’t feel like making one.  So I made cheese biscuits and poured the chicken and sauce over them with vegetables.  My pot pie mix is pretty simple, milk, cream of chicken soup, garlic, salt pepper, onion powder, poultry seasoning.  I just shake some of each in and mix.  Put it all in the crock pot on low to warm and the flavors for mix for a couple hours.  This can also be done with uncooked chicken.  Just mix all together and cook on low 6 or so hours until the chicken is cooked.

My final meal is a mystery meal.  Which is sad because it turned out really good. I want to make it again, although I can’t find the recipe where I normally save my weekly recipes.  There was a marinade, and then grilled the shrimp and scallops.  The green beans I do have the recipe. It is becoming a nice change from the same old, same old green beans.  Mediterranean Green Beans

I will keep searching for the shrimp and scallop recipe and
who knows I may find a new one along the way.

Some recipes I found that seem nice and light for summer days.

Island Kielbasa in a Slow Cooker – by Denise

Slow Cooker Mediterranean Chicken – by Sheryl from The Lady Behind The Curtain

Mediterranean Coleslaw and Salmon Bowls – By Suzi from The Mediterranean Dish

Tabouli Salad Recipe – By The Mediterranean Dish

Always enjoy the fun of food and the adventures it brings.