Comfort Food

 I made some chicken tenders last night that you won't find at any fast food joint. They are so scrumptious that I wanted to share my simple recipe with you.

 First I season the chicken with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper.

Then I roll the pieces in bread crumbs and season them again with a bit more salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper.

 While I am seasoning the chicken, I heat about an inch of canola oil in a pan. I keep it on medium heat so it only spits if I drop some batter in, but it's not boiling or hissing yet.

 I gently place the pieces in and wait for about 2-3 minutes. In the picture you can kind of see that it's still pink on top, but the bottom and sides are pretty well cooked.

 I check the bottom a few times to make sure they're not getting too dark, and then I flip them. I let the chicken cook for another 2-3 minutes on the other side.

 I pat the chicken with a paper towel to blot off some of the oil and serve them crispy and hot. 

Meanwhile, I cook my quartered potatoes in the toaster oven. (There are just two of us, so the portions are small enough that I don't need to turn on the big oven).

 On my potatoes, I always use about a teaspoon of canola oil, and a few shakes of the following herbs/spices:
Basil
Parsley
Rosemerry
Salt
Pepper
Thyme

P.S. Even though there is oil on the potatoes, they will still stick to tin foil or a baking sheet. Make sure you spray some kind of non-stick spray like Pam before spreading out your potatoes. I bake them for about 20 minutes on high (400-425) in the toaster oven. You may need to cook them for longer (30-40 minutes) if you're using the regular oven, or if you have larger chunks of potato. 

Add your favorite dipping sauce (we like barbecue sauce and honey mustard) and eat with a fork and knife or just dig in with your fingers! Enjoy!

Thanks for reading my thoughts about food!

De-LIGHT-ful

When I was in college, I used to work retail. On my lunch break I would walk to Whole Foods to get a fresh Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad from the salad bar. Honestly, finding that salad was probably the one cool thing that came out of that job. (It was a less-than-awesome job).

Now that I'm a teacher (a way awesomer job) and have the summers off, (totally awesome) I'm not buying lunch that often, but I still crave that salad. I love having a cold dinner in the summertime too. It's so refreshing and feels healthier for some reason. I made my own version of it at home a few days ago. You can really add any ingredients that you like, but I kept it simple.

I just cooked up some bowtie pasta, chopped some fresh romaine, and added some leftover cooked chicken  that was in the fridge. I added some pepper, shredded Parmesan cheese, and creamy Caesar (or creamy Italian) salad dressing. Then I tossed it all together and chilled it for about an hour. It was so good on a hot day last week. You could also add red and yellow tomatoes (which also makes it more visually interesting) but I didn't add them because Greg doesn't like fresh tomatoes. I think it also might taste really cool and satisfying with some crisp cucumber. Like I said, you can add anything you like to create different flavor combination, bell peppers, banana peppers, even some big crunchy croutons. So dig in your fridge tonight and throw together a nice cold pasta salad using what you've got, it's budget friendly and definitely refreshing!

Satay

 This is my new favorite dinner. It has the best combination of qualities. It takes ten minutes to make, and it tastes absolutely delicious! I get chicken tenders (or breasts and cut them into slices) that is free-range, hormone free, etc. I put the chicken in a Ziploc with about a teaspoon or so of curry powder and some canola oil. (Just a few drops). I also added a tiny shake of cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and about a clove or two of minced garlic. I let it marinate in the fridge for about an hour, then stick it on skewers and grill it up on the Foreman. Then, I used some Thai peanut dipping sauce that was absolutely to die for. I just slightly heated it and put it on the side.

On the side, I made some pad Thai and added broccoli. Pad Thai is also really easy to make and you can put in anything that you want. I soaked rice noodles in hot water for 10 minutes, then heated a dab of oil in my wok with some garlic and onion. Once the noodles were soft, I tossed them in the wok, added a tablespoon of fish sauce and two tablespoons of soy sauce, and then the steamed broccoli. I tossed it all on high heat until the noodles absorbed all of the liquid. Right before serving I drizzled about 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil on the top. I would have loved to have added crumbled peanuts for texture, but all I had was almonds, so I threw a few in anyways. (I don't think anyone noticed the difference after a bottle of wine). I also would have love to chop some green onion for the top, but mine were way too wilted, so I skipped it. I have a recipe to make my own peanut sauce, which I might try, but sometimes you don't want to mess with a good thing. The sauce I used is from Thai Kitchen and is so amazing.

Chicken: Not Just the Plain White Sneaker Anymore.

I think chicken is the plain white sneaker of dinner. "Can't we have chicken in a more interesting way?!" I recently said to myself. Why, yes. It is quite possible. Here are two chicken meals that I made in the last few weeks. While not fancy stilettos, these two meals were at least an interesting change: A funky platform or espadrille maybe?


This is Chicken Cordon Bleu, which was a new recipe for me. It is stuffed with honey glazed ham slices and Swiss cheese. I flattened the chicken breast by beating it with a crab mallet. What can I say? I'm a hard-core Marylander. No meat tenderizer, no problem.

This is Chicken Breast stuffed with Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus

To all you fellow Marylanders out there, get out your mallets (I know you have a drawer of them) and beat some chicken! What other fun things can you stuff in chicken? The possibilities are endless.

By the way, I can't wait to share my baking news with you tomorrow. Here's a hint: Third time's a charm!

Come on Over!

The next time we have people over for dinner, I'm making this dish. This was a really solid recipe from The Joy of Cooking. What made it even better was that Greg helped me in the kitchen! The chicken had a great flavor, so we didn't even need to make a taco sauce. Next time, I would serve it with Spanish rice, but even without, they were yummy!
 

 
We bought chicken legs and removed the skin first. Then we made the Chili-Garlic Spice Paste that coats the chicken.We combined all of the ingredients, and since we don't have a food processor, we put them in the blender, which works the same. It comes out as an ugly, but not bad tasting, pasty liquid.

3/4 of a cup minced jalapeno peppers
1/2 cup garlic cloves
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsps grated lemon zest (or lime)
2 tbsps cracked black peppercorns
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsps chili powder

After we coated the chicken with the paste,we baked it for an hour. When it was ready, the chicken easily pulled away from the bone. We pulled and shredded the chicken and then used some of the pan drippings to add some more flavor to the chicken. Then we spooned the chicken into some flour tortillas. We added lettuce and a homemade tomato salsa.

 The recipe called for sour cream as well but after our gorge on butter last week, I omitted that. I think it tasted better without it anyways, fresh, clean flavors. We did add a tiny sprinkle of shredded cheddar on the meat though. I was happy to find a recipe Greg likes that does not include gobs of butter, cream, or cheese. I felt good making something that we didn't have to feel guilty eating. Maybe you can try this recipe at your house; the full recipe is in the Joy of Cooking (75th anniversary edition). Thanks for reading my thoughts about food!

....And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

Ok, well I'm not practicing my Christmas carols yet, nor have I slaughtered any turtle doves, but I did cook some French Hens! To be honest they were Tyson's brand Cornish Hens, but that's pretty much the same, right? I'm getting into the Holiday spirit a little bit early this year because Greg and I are going to Florida for Christmas to see his family. I have never been away from home for Christmas, so I'm becoming a tad sad and a bit out-of-sorts with the thought of not hanging lights outside, or throwing a holiday party, or even putting up a tree!

Being in the holiday spirit, I decided to take on a little project, which of course for me ended up as an ordeal because, well...it's me.

The Birds.

I made some rice and stuffed the hens. It is an odd thing - to stuff a bird, if you haven't done it before..

I scattered the rest of the rice in the pan so it would soak up some of the flavor. Then I drizzled olive oil on the hens and seasoned them with salt and pepper. I took them out once to check the doneness and drizzled some more olive oil. It gave them a nice crispy skin.

 Here's the finished product! Nice and golden brown

 I steamed up some fresh green beans on the side, but I put 3 cloves of smashed garlic in when I steamed them. The flavor was just enough. It was really good.

It was somewhat awkward to have the whole Cornish Hen on the plate at the dinner table, especially since they were still stuffed. When I had to stick my fork in to get out the rice, I almost felt like I needed a little privacy curtain. Then, eating it was no less strange. I really had to dismember the thing at the table to get any meat. It was messy, sort of like eating lobster at the table. You need a bib, special tools, and a discard bowl for the non-edible stuff. I guess that's why people eat just the lobster tails (although the claws are my favorite part). It's a lot less messy. I had a heck of a time tugging and ripping (because that's what I did) the breast meat off. By the time I was done with that, I was too grossed out to even eat any of it. I saved it for left overs, which I enjoyed two days later when the trauma of the event wore off.

 They do make  pretty picture though.

So besides the indecency of picking rice out of the cavity of a stuffed bird, or breaking wings and legs off of the poor little carcass, I also didn't think about the fact that a whole hen per person would be a bit too much to eat. I felt guilty wasting so much and didn't want the bird's death to be in vain, so while Greg studied at the table, I sat across from him picking at every last morsel to save for the dogs as training treats. After fanatically picking, deeply lost in my thoughts, I looked up and saw Greg looking at me, almost green. Only then did I realize the intensity with which I was absorbed picking the bones of the poor little thing. I'll admit, it was straight up nasty. I was up to my wrists in oil and grossness. I'll spare you the rest of the details, but lets just say, I don't think Greg will ever look at me the same way again.

Balsamic Chicken

Balsamic Vinegar is awesome. Add a little chicken broth and slurry, (whisked flour and water) and you have a delicious sauce.

Asparagus is the easiest veggie to make. Cut off the bottoms and saute in butter and garlic on medium heat, add salt and pepper and voila! Crunchy and delicious.

• 10 cloves garlic
• flour for dredging
• 4 boneless chicken breast halves
• salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I like canola oil)
• 1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 1/4 cups chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 2 tablespoons water

Preheat the oven to 350 and peel and smash the garlic.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Put the flour on a large plate. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season all over with salt and pepper. Coat the chicken in the flour and shake off any excess. Add the oil to the hot pan and swirl to evenly coat. Lay the chicken in the pan smooth side down. Scatter the garlic around the chicken. Turn the chicken once it so it cooks on both sides evenly (about 5 minutes per side). Transfer the chicken to a baking pan and bake until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Leave the garlic in the skillet.

Pour the vinegar into the hot skillet. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Boil until almost all the vinegar evaporates and it gets a little syrupy, about 1 minute. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil.

Mix the flour and water together to make a thin paste (slurry) whisk the slurry into the broth and boil until the sauce thickens, about 1 minute more.  Season the sauce with salt and black pepper. Add any collected juices from the chicken to the sauce. Put the chicken on a plate, pour the sauce and garlic on top and serve.

My Favorite Things

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens... These are a few of my favorite things. Tonight I made my favorite recipe, Creamy Chicken with Mushrooms.While cooking dinner, I snacked on my favorite part of the meal, the mushrooms! Yum! Way too good. If I had a choice between chocolate cake and mushrooms, well...that would be tough, but you get the point.

Question: In my cookbook, it says not to wash mushrooms, but to brush any debris off of them. As you can see, there certainly was debris. I brushed it off, but I'll admit, there was still some residue. Should I be concerned by this? I'm not really opposed to eating dirt (that sounds weird) as I am kind of a nature freak and worship anything from nature. Dirt is from nature, ergo it is fine...right?

Love.

I may need to work on my knife skills a bit.

It's a sin how much butter and cream was used in the making of this dish. (I used two tablespoons here, not five)  : )

I can't handle how good.

I took the browned chicken out and used 3 tablespoons of rice vinegar to loosen the browned bits from the pan. Then I added 1.5 cups of whipping cream and brought it to a boil. Then it simmered for 2-3 minutes uncovered.

3 tablespoons of capers were added with the cream. I use about 2 tbsps because Greg doesn't love them, and I think they can be a little overbearing.

Then I added the mushrooms back in to re-warm. I added peas, for a veggie. I've also used asparagus which goes great with this dish as well.

This is definitely a favorite in our house. I make it once or twice a month. I made it for some of my favorite friends,  Jade and Melanie, a few weeks ago for a friends dinner.


Some things that might be my favorites one day:
For now I'll just drool.

 I want to make Madeleines in the worst way since my post about my sisters trip to France.


I am still thinking about the Turkey Roulade that I can't wait to make for Thanksgiving, but I'll need some kitchen twine. Look at this cute acorn holder.



I think I would cook much better wearing this or this.


Even the name of this birdie bungalow dishtowel sounds like an instant favorite.


Enjoy! Thanks for reading my thoughts about food and some of my favorite things!