Grilled Lemon Chicken with Flatbread and Pesto
When Aidan was a toddler he would refuse to eat anything with “stuff” on it. “Stuff” usually referred to chopped basil on the top of pizzas or pasta dishes. Sean and I became expert at either hiding evidence of basil or preparing his food without it. It was a shame, since I love to use basil in everything.
He still scrunches his nose from time to time at the site of tiny bits of basil, although he has learned not to ask that it be removed anymore. Unbeknownst to him, Aidan’s new favorite meal doesn’t just contain chopped basil – it mostly IS chopped basil. Bob grows the most amazing Italian Large Leaf Basil. The leaves are as large as a dollar and their fragrance will fill up your kitchen. It has been my mission to introduce this wonderful ingredient to my little boy and I have finally found success. This is one of our summer favorites.
GRILLED LEMON CHICKEN
1 package of chicken breasts
1/2 lemon
3 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup chopped basil
Dash of salt and ground black pepper
Use the juice from the half lemon and combine with other ingredients to marinate the chicken for ten minutes. Grill over medium-high heat.
PESTO
1 cup fresh basil leaves
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup toasted pine nuts
½ cup olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt
Dash of ground black pepper
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend. For those who like garlic, a tablespoon of minced garlic added before blending is also good.
This also freezes nicely. To freeze the pesto, cut the amount of olive oil by half. Spoon into a ziplock baggie and squeeze the air out. Lay it flat in your freezer. When you are ready to use it, let it thaw at room temperature and then put it in a pan at low heat for a few minutes and add the remaining amount of olive oil.
GRILLED FLATBREAD
It you have the time, there is a wonderful recipe for Mario Batali’s flatbread on the blog Goop.com. It takes only minutes to prepare, but needs about an hour and a half to rise.
Nothing beats homemade, but in a pinch, I also like to use Trader’s Joe’s whole wheat pizza dough. I let it rise briefly while covered in olive oil and then break off golf-ball sized chunks and roll out in flour. One package of pizza dough can make about eight palm-sized flatbreads. We then throw it on the grill on medium-high heat and coat with Olive Oil again. Cook thoroughly until slightly charred on each side.
P.S. This combination makes for a killer sandwich for the next day’s lunch as well!!
Oil & Vinegar
Normally for cooking I will use any regular balsamic vinegar that you can find at the grocery store. I haven’t found a real difference in flavor once it is combined with other ingredients in a pan. I save the really thick, expensive ones to use for dipping or to lightly sprinkle over salads.
One of my favorite vinegars is from O&Co. Unfortunately, Arizona does not yet have an O&Co, but you can order from them online www.oliviersandco.com. If you are in New York, they have a lovely store in Grand Central Station. Sean and I were in New York in early June and I made sure to ship a few bottles home.
We do have something that Grand Central Station does not. While O&Co. does also carry wonderful Olive Oils, my favorite is local and comes from Queen Creek Olive Mill (www.queencreekolivemill.com). Their Mexican Lime Olive Oil is truly the best. I go through it way too quickly. I am hoping that Sean and I can take a trip out to their farm at some point this summer and get to see how they do it.
A dash of the Mexican Lime with a splash of O&Co.’s vinegar is all I use as salad dressing anymore. The flavors are incredible!
Heirloom Tomato Sauce
I have yet to meet anyone with the natural talent my mother-in-law has in the kitchen. Eating at her home is a gift. She seems to float through the kitchen mixing, chopping, stirring and tasting, as if it was all second nature. I have rarely seen her consult a recipe, although she can tell you exactly how to prepare any ingredient or meal by heart.
For her birthday this year, we wanted to cook for her. Sean came home with a box of the most beautiful heirloom tomatoes from the farm. My measurements are not exact with the tomatoes, since I kept dicing and throwing them in. With so many beautiful colors and flavors, the more the merrier. I did try to squeeze out some of the water and seeds before cooking, so that the sauce would be a little thicker. When they were all diced, it measured to about six cups of tomatoes. You can blend all of the tomatoes too in a good processor for a smoother consistency.
The sauce was so beautiful that Sean took a video of it. Marsha and Bob loved it.
Heirloom Tomato Sauce
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Spanish onion, diced
1 medium shallot, diced
3 medium carrots, shredded
6 cups fresh heirloom tomatoes, diced
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
¼ cup of basil, chopped
Dash of salt and ground black pepper
In a saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion, carrots and shallots and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and balsamic vinegar and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and stir occasionally. Add half of the basil and keep at low heat for 40 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Add remaining basil at the end. The sauce can be refrigerated for a week.
Binkley’s
Kevin Binkley of Binkley’s restaurant called Bob a few months ago wanting to plan an Heirloom Tomato dinner. He wanted to do a special evening to celebrate the different varieties of heirloom tomatoes available in the summer. Bob asked if we would be free to join them, and we agreed before ever looking at a calendar. If you have ever eaten at Binkley’s you know why. If you haven’t, then you are missing a truly incredible culinary treasure.
Kevin’s food is adventurous and genius. He honed his craft at the French Laundry and words fail to describe his talent. Sean and I sat with Bob and Marsha and Kevin’s mother, Nancy, and his stepfather, Julian. The dinner was six courses in all, each one highlighted the flavor and possibilities for the different varieties of tomatoes that Bob brought to the dinner. Talking with Nancy also made me feel a little relief. My own son has dreamt of being a chef someday, but his vision seems set on the executive chef position at Red Lobster. Nancy confessed that Kevin had been a fan of the “Lobster” in college. Thankfully for all of us he has risen to such culinary heights. I have hope now that Aidan will too.
The photographer in Sean had to capture each one before I could take a bite. With Julian’s help, he and I lighted the shots with our iPhones. It was well worth the combined effort, because I wanted to remember every course.
Here are some of the photos from that amazing evening:
I love dough…
Sean and I fell in love with Pizzeria Bianco ten years ago. We had heard for some time about the magic Chris Bianco was creating downtown, but had both felt it was a long drive from Peoria for pizza. Let it be said, we no longer pass up a good meal because of distance. 
Pizzeria Bianco’s truly is the best. I didn’t need the New York Times, Oprah or Good Morning America to tell me what a treasure we had right here in Phoenix, although I was a little mad they let the rest of America in on it. However, let it also be said, we no longer pass up a good meal because of a long wait either.
For our combined birthdays Sean and I celebrated with our favorite people at one of our favorite places. With pizza like this… who needs birthday cake??
A little introduction…
The markets have closed for the summer. After nine months of meeting and feeding so many people from all over, McClendon’s Select has said good-bye to the Town & Country Farmer’s Market for the season and are now preparing the land, the plants and everyone to do it all over again this fall.
Until then, I have cooked up this little blog in hopes of feeding you another way.
To be honest, I don’t grow anything. I can barely keep basil alive in my own kitchen. It is usually done in by an overabundance of attention, rather than neglect, but either way the outcome is the same.
Bob and Marsha McClendon, my lovely in-laws, are the ones who have so carefully grown and cultivated McClendon’s Select. They have created a masterpiece with their land. They hand select every seed. They research and experiment to make sure every fruit and vegetable is grown with the perfect combination of nutrients, water and sun. They pick and inspect and taste every variety, finding those that are beautiful inside and out. Their schedule is backbreaking, but their bounty is breathtaking.
My husband Sean helps as well. Many of you have met him at the Scottsdale and Town & Country Farmers’ Markets. He comes home with new facts about produce or ideas on how to prepare something, along with a big boxes of beautiful treasures for us to enjoy for dinner. He has enjoyed the collaboration his father has created with so many talented chefs across the valley and upwards in Flagstaff, Winslow and Las Vegas.
Even our son, Aidan, has his role on the farm. At seven his attention span is short and ever changing, but he loves to be there helping out. He has sold coloring books about what it means to eat organic at the markets, he has helped plant garlic and in the winter pick citrus, and has eaten more sweet corn than any of us. He doesn’t think it at all unusual to eat a purple carrot, yellow tomato or blood red orange. He loves to run around the farm, usually with his soccer ball bouncing ahead of him, and is happy to introduce Papa’s bees to visitors. It is a joy to see him learn about the food he eats and to feel good about what I put in front of him.
The farm does not just nourish my family, it is also the reason Sean and I first met. Our first introduction was because of box of citrus. While I am limited with my green thumb, I am happy to offer the talents I do have to our family’s endeavor. I certainly have developed an aptitude for appreciating and consuming organic fruits and vegetables.
Sean and I wanted to create a place online to keep you updated as the farm changes through the seasons. We wanted to offer ideas and recipes to help you make the most of what is available and to share our own adventures in the kitchen and the fields. We also love to visit the chefs that use McClendon’s Select produce in their menus and are happy to go visit and report back on the wonderful meals that are being prepared. We would love to hear on what you are preparing with McClendon’s Select organic produce.
So, while the farm is being worked and prepped during these hot summer months to bring you all sorts of wonderful goodies in the fall, I am embarking on providing some food for thought in the meantime.
Enjoy!
Kate McClendon
McClendon's Select 