Pasta with Chicken and Zucchini

Today was one of those days when I had no idea what to do with the two chicken breasts I defrosted for dinner. There is work being done outside our condo so it's a pain to get to the grill right now and it's been so hot that I didn't want to turn on the oven. After a quick peek in my fridge, freezer and pantry I came up with this. It's so simple that I wondered if it was blog worthy. It's basically a chicken and veggie saute served over pasta. Not that impressive but very delicious. If you notice in the photo there are two different types of pasta there. I had a little bit of penne in an open box and a little gemelli in another. So I used the cooking times on the back of the box. I threw the gemelli in first and then a minute or so later added in the penne. It was fine that way and I've done it before. If you just put it in at the same time you may end up with some pasta that's over cooked or some pasta that's not cooked enough. Different shapes have different cooking times.

If you don't like zucchini or artichoke hearts substitute them with something else. Cannelini beans would be great here, chick peas, eggplant too. Use your favorite combo or try something new!



Chicken with Zucchini and Artichoke Hearts

Ingredients:

1 pound of short pasta, penne, ziti, rigatoni, etc.
2 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1 medium zucchini, quaretered lenthwise and then cut into chunks
10 frozen artichoke hearts
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
handful of frozen peas
handful of fresh basil, torn
handful of kalamata olives
1/2 cup white wine
1 Tbsp tomato paste
chicken broth
extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Season chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder, saute in mixture of butter and a little oil until brown. Remove and set aside. Add in a little more oil if your pan is dry and saute onion in olive oil, add zucchini and leave it a lone for a minute until it browns a little, add garlic and let cook for a minute or so and then add artichoke hearts. They won't really brown but will soften. (*See Note) Add tomato paste and stir, let it cook for a minute. Deglaze pan with wine and scrape up any browned bits that stuck to the pan. When liquid reduces add chicken broth a little at a time to get the consistency of sauce you want. Add kalamata olives, salt and pepper and let cook for about 20 minutes. Add cooked chicken and peas to the pan and stir. Chicken is already cooked so just let it simmer for a couple of minutes to allow the flavors to combine.

While sauce is cooking, boil water for pasta, season well with salt. When sauce is almost ready drop the pasta. When pasta is al dente toss with sauce and serve.

*note - I used some fresh tomatoes but they weren't ripe enough and didn't do anything for the dish so I didn't put it in the recipe. However, if you have beautiful ripe plum tomatoes you could add them here.

Paella for the Sea Fearing - Coast to Coast Challenge 2

It's time for another recipe chosen for Bakespace's Coast to Coast Cooking! This time we chose Paella which can be made in so many ways to please all palates. If you've been reading my blog for a while you know that Steve and I are the rare few Italians that do not like seafood. We like fried calamari and sushi and I'll eat tuna salad but that's about it. So my version of paella contains chicken and chorizo. It's very similar to arroz con pollo but the chorizo gives it a totally different and fabulous flavor.

I learned a few things while researching paella recipes and ingredients. There are different types of chorizo, raw which is like Italian sausage, dried which is like soppresatta. They come hot and mild, portugese, spanish, etc. I used dried spanish sausage called Palacios. In my area this can found at Kings Supermarket, Wegmans Supermarket and Fairway Market. I used one package of it which I think was only about 1/2 pound. It's less than the recipe called for but was so flavorful that I don't think I would have needed any more. The rice that should be used is a short grain spanish rice called Bomba or Valencia. I could not find this anywhere so I used Italian short grain rice called Arborio. This rice is usually used for risotto. I'm not really sure why a long grain rice can't be used for this. I think that it would result in a drier rice which is what I was looking for. Next time, I will try it that way,

The recipe that we used is Paella a la Valenciana. This is a traditional paella recipe that we started with. As always in these challenges, we get to make these our own and change them in any way we see fit. I decided to look for another recipe that doesn't contain seafood and found one by Paula Deen. I followed her recipe and then threw in a chicken breast for Steve and some spanish olives at the end. I didn't use the lemon, I just didn't think I'd want to mask the flavor with lemon. I served this to Steve's family and it was a big hit. I'm glad I got to try this out!

Check out how all the other participants' recipes came out! Spryte and Dani even have guest bloggers who participated in the challenge. Click their links to see them all.

Shane from Culinary Alchemy

Spryte of Spryte's Place

Danielle of Cooking for my Peace of Mind

Monica from Alaskan Dermish in the Kitch


Spanish Chicken and Chorizo Paella

by Paula Deen

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil
1 chicken, cut legs, drumsticks and thighs
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
1 large onion, diced
1 large green bell pepper, diced
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
4 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 pound Spanish style chorizo links, cut into slices on the bias
2 cups short-grain rice (recommended: Valencia or Arborio)
Pinch saffron threads
1 cup fresh or frozen green peas
Lemon wedges, for service


Directions:

Heat a paella pan or very large, shallow skillet or pot, preferably with 2 handles over high heat.

Cook's note: A large cast iron skillet would work here.

Pour in the olive oil and let it heat up. Season the chicken all over with salt, pepper and paprika. Sear in the olive oil until browned all over. Transfer to a plate with tongs.

Lower the heat to medium and saute the onions and bell pepper until softened. Stir in the diced tomatoes, chicken broth, and chorizo. Bring the liquid to a boil and then stir in the rice and saffron. Add the browned chicken pieces. The rice should be completely covered with liquid. Cook the paella without stirring for 20 minutes. When the liquid has all been absorbed, pour the peas over the top of the pot, turn off the heat and cover the pot with a kitchen towel. Let stand 5 minutes and then serve with lemon wedges.

Greek Meatballs and Lemon Couscous with Lemon Yogurt Dressing

Every once and a while I like to dig through my cookbooks and old cooking magazines to see if anything sparks an interest. The more I experiment with cooking and step out of my comfort zone, the more I find I like. If 5 years ago you tried to get me to eat a piece of sushi, I would have ran as far away as I could. 10 years ago I would have stuck up my nose at feta and couscous. I didn't know any better. I knew Italian food and I only knew the Italian food I grew up on. That was all great but there were so many things I didn't know, there was a whole other world of Italian food and of course, other cuisines I've never even seen. So going through these old magazines again are like going through them for the first time with a new set of eyes and a new set of taste buds. I found this particular recipe in a 2005 issue of Cuisine at Home. I used to get a subscription and I'm starting to think I should order it again. There are tons of great recipes and tips and no advertisements. It's about 50 pages of just recipes and photos!

This recipe was definitely a winner and I had all the ingredients so I followed the recipe exactly. Remember, if you don't have everything here you can still make this, it will just taste slightly different depending on what you substitute. However, I do want to recommend that you use the feta and the kalamata olives. They are excellent together and bring all the flavors together. I couldn't help but laugh to myself as I mixed oregano, scallions and feta into the meatballs. What would my grandmother think?! She'd definitely be horrified but she was so set in her ways that she wouldn't be able to understand that not all meatballs are Italian.

Greek Meatballs

from Cuisine at Home
Issue No. 52
August 2005

Makes 12 Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 cup breadcrumbs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
2 Tbsp scallions, minced
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp dried oregano leaves
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 lb ground chuck
2 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted, halved
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
6 cups tomatoes, quartered or 2 cans whole tomatoes (28 oz. each)
salt and pepper to taste
chopped cucumber
lemon zest
Lemon Couscous, see below
Feta Yogurt Dressing, see below

Directions:

Combine Crumbs milk, feta, parsley, scallions, salt, oregano and egg in a mixing bowl.

Stir in the ground chuck and mix lightly but well. Shape the mixture into balls about 2" in diameter.

Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-high. Add meatballs and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove from pan and keep warm.

Add olives, garlic and pepper flakes to the pan and saute 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and cook 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, return meatballs to pan, and simmer 5 minutes, or until cooked through.

Serve over couscous, topped with feta dressing and garnished with cucumber and lemon zest.


Feta Yogurt Dressing

Makes about 1/2 cup

Ingredients:

1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and stir well. Cover and chill until ready to use.


Lemon Couscous

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients:

3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3/4 cup dry plain couscous

Directions:

Bring broth, lemon juice, butter, and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat, add couscous, stir, and cover. Let stand 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

Chicken Marsala with Ravioli and My Cooking Philosophy

Ever since watching The Next Food Network Star and Julie and Julia I've been thinking a lot about what makes my cooking style unique. I wondered what I would say if I was asked what my culinary point of view is. It became very clear to me when reading a really great comment someone left on my blog. It's something that is always in the back of my mind but when I really thought about it, it was clear as day. As you know, my blog was originally created to help me learn to make the recipes my grandmother made and share it with my family and friends. This has evolved into something even more. Through the years I've learned what flavors go well together, what ingredients can be substituted for others, how to work with what I have and the budget that I have. Sometimes things worked well, sometimes not so much, but that's okay. That seems to have become the theme of this blog and that's what I want readers to learn. I want someone to read my blog and think, hey, I can do that. It doesn't matter if you don't have prosciutto today, or that you don't have the specific wine this recipe calls for or even if you are a vegetarian. I want people to learn to view recipes as a guide, an idea that worked, not something written in stone. Take that idea and run with it, change it up, make it work for you. It may not turn out exactly like the picture in a book or like a photo on a blog but that's okay because hey, it could end up even better. What is important is that you are in the kitchen, that you fill your home with wonderful aromas, put meals on the table that bring your family together and enjoy yourself. It doesn't matter if it's a hit or a flop, what matters is that you tried and you didn't give up. The more you get in the kitchen you will learn what you like and what flavor combinations work for you and your family. Before you know it, you'll have more hits and less flops. As long as your ingredients are good and fresh you'll win every time. I hope that I can help give you the courage to be creative, try something new, and be comfortable and confident that you can create a wonderful meal no matter how limited your pantry is.

Today's recipe is an example of how my cooking philosophy works. When I saw this recipe I loved it. To me it seems like a combination of chicken marsala and saltimbocca, two of my favorite dishes. Marsala is a simple mushroom sauce made with marsala wine and fresh mushrooms. Saltimbocca's key ingredients are prosciutto, sage and spinach is usually served with it or under it. For me this recipe would really be a marriage of those two dishes if it was served with spinach ravioli or with some spinach tossed in. Today, I happened to have the spinach ravioli but unfortunately I didn't have the prosciutto and sage. I didn't let it stop me, we needed to eat dinner anyway! It wasn't the same as the photo in the magazine and it wasn't a true combination of both dishes but still very delicious. As always, I use cremini mushrooms in place of button mushrooms and I used garlic in place of the shallots, and added garlic powder in addition to the salt and pepper when I seasoned my chicken. The dinner was excellent, Steve and I were both very happy with it. Next time I will love to try the recipe with prosciutto, sage and definitely some spinach. Use your imagination and change it up according to what you have in your pantry, you never know, you may find a new family favorite!

Chicken Marsala Ravioli

from Cuisine at Home, Perfect Pasta

Ingredients:

For the Ravioli and the Chicken-

1 - 9 oz. package refrigerated cheese-filled ravioli
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced into strips and seasoned with kosher salt and pepper
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 oz. prosciutto, chopped

For the Marsala Sauce-

1/2 lb button mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp minced shallots
1/2 cup dry marsala or dry sherry
3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
2 Tbsp minced fresh sage
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

*Cook ravioli according to package directions; drain and set aside.

Coat seasoned chicken in flour. Saute in 3 Tbsp oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat until chicken is brown, about 5 minutes. Add prosciutto; cook 1 minute. Transfer chicken mixture to a plate and set it aside.

Saute mushrooms in 2 Tbsp oil in the same pan over medium-high heat until mushrooms are brown, about 3 minutes. Add shallots; cook 1 minute.

Deglaze pan with marsala, scraping up any bits rom the bottome of the pan; simmer until liquid is nearly evaporated. Stir in broth, chicken mixture, cooked ravioli and sage. Simmer until ingredients are heated through.

Stir in butter. Sprinkle ravioli and chicken with parsley, and season dish with salt and pepper before serving.

* Note - In my experience the sauce can be made frist - just wait to add the chicken until you're ready. I don't like to let ravioli sit without sauce they'll stick together. I rather the sauce wait for the pasta than the pasta wait for the sauce. Otherwise, toss the ravioli with a little olive oil so they don't stick while waiting for the sauce to be ready.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

My friend Catherine gave me this recipe last winter. She guaranteed that these cookies would be perfect every single time. She did not lie. Like Shane's Blondie recipe this is my go to Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I made these on many Tuesday nights while watching Fringe. (Great show by the way!) I'm not sure where this recipe originated but I have seen it on numerous blogs and recognized it as having the same title as the one given to me. If this is your recipe please let me know so I can add a link to the original post, you certainly deserve recognition!





Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 15 Minutes Ready In: 40 Minutes
Servings: 18


Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.

4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Cracklin' Cornbread

There were a lot of firsts this weekend and you know fried chicken was one of them. Cornbread was another one. I've never made cornbread from scratch. In fact, I've only ever used those little jiffy boxes and made corn muffins. They aren't very good actually. When I brought up my theme idea to my beeps (bakespace peeps - I know, I know, we're corny) they immediately had a ton of suggestions for me. One of them was cornbread and then to make it even better DD of DDPie's Slice suggested cracklin' cornbread. As soon as I saw that I knew it had to be on the menu. What is cracklin' cornbread you ask? Well, corbread with bacon in it, of course!

I followed the recipe that DD gave me and next time I'll only make two slight changes. The first would be to use the full amount of sugar. The recipe suggests 2-4 tsp and DD suggested that if I use the bacon I may not want it to be as sweet. I think I'd like the taste of sweet and salty together so I will try the full amount (I only used 2 tsp) next time. Keep in mind that cornbread isn't supposed to be as sweet as a corn muffin but I just like it sweeter. The second change I would make would be to take out the bacon and mix it with the batter and then pour it into the cast iron skillet. All the bacon stayed on the bottom and I imagined it throughout the cornbread. That's it. It was very moist, tasty and easy! Thanks DD!



Corn Bread

By: DD of DDPie's Slice

Ingredients:

1 cup Quaker or Aunt Jemima Yellow or White Corn Meal
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 to 4 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425F

Place all dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir together. In a seperate bowl, whisk together milk, egg and oil. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the milk mixture. Stir together quickly.

Pour into a greased pan and bake in hot oven for 20-25 min until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

For Cracklin' Corn Bread:

I always use my iron skillet for corn bread. I dice then fry about 3-4 pieces of bacon until crispy. I pour off excess grease, leaving only about 2 tbsp of the bacon grease in the pan with the bacon. Mix corn bread according to directions and immediately pour into the HOT skillet containing the bacon. Place in oven and bake accordingly.

FYI- if you are making regular corn bread, the key is the hot skillet. So when I'm doing "plain" cornbread, I put the skillet in the oven with a couple of tbsp of melted shortening in the skillet and let it get hot while mixing the corn bread. Then pour it into the hot skillet.

Creamed Peas and Southern Style Green Beans

As you already know I made Southern themed dinner for my group The Dinner Diva's on Saturday. I wanted to go traditional with the sides without it being too heavy and hopefully I achieved that. I really liked the peas more than the green beans. The peas are basically cooked in a bechamel sauce which is very tasty. Thank you to my friend Carolyn from bakespace for helping out with this recipe! My issue with the beans are that they are sweet and sour. I like sweet and sour meatballs but not my veggies. I should have remembered that I made spinach this way once before. It just didn't appeal to me but the girls liked it...well, at least they said they did!


Southern Style Green Beans

Courtesy of Rachael Ray

4 servings

Ingredients:

1 1/4 pounds green beans, trimmed and chopped into 1-inch pieces
2 slices bacon, chopped
1 small onion, minced
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar

Directions:

Cook green beans in 1-inch simmering water, covered, for 6 minutes. Drain and set aside. Return skillet to stove and set burner to medium high. Add bacon and brown. When fat begins to render, add chopped onions to the pan and cook until tender with the bacon. Add cooked green beans to the pan and turn to coat in bacon drippings and onions. When the beans are hot and bacon crisp at edges and onions translucent add vinegar to the pan and season with beans with sugar. Allow the vinegar to evaporate and the sugar to combine with pan drippings, 1 to 2 minutes, then serve.


Creamed Peas

Courtesy of Carolyn - posted on bakespace.com

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk*
about 2 cups fresh or frozen peas

DIRECTIONS:

Melt butter in saucepan. Add flour and salt, stir well until combined add milk and bring to a boil. Stir until slightly thickened. Stir in cooked peas. Serve over mashed potatoes if you wish.


*Michele's Note - If the roux becomes too thick when you add in the peas just add a little more milk and it will thicken up again.

Grilled Watermelon Salad

Sounds strange doesn't it? Well, it is strange but cool and refreshing. This isn't something I'll have on a regular basis because it's well....odd...but it was interesting enough to make for company and it provoked discussion and interest. In the future I would let the watermelon cool a little bit before placing it over the arugula but that's my preference. One of my guests said she liked it warm because it melted the feta a bit. I lighly dressed this salad with extra virgin olive oil and a splah of balsamic vinegar. It doesn't need much. You make want to make the balasamic reduction, I made it but didn't like it, so I didn't serve it. Whatever you decide is fine with me just give it a try and you'll be sure to get some ooohs and aaahs.


Grilled Watermelon Salad
Courtesy of Claire Robinson

Ingredients:

1/2 (5-pound) seedless watermelon
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt (specialty salt is great here, if on hand)
2 cups fresh baby arugula, washed and dried
1 cup goat cheese, crumbled, preferably a French Chevre
Fresh finely cracked black pepper

Directions:

Stand the watermelon half cut side down on a cutting board and slice away the rind, leaving a solid block of melon. Turn the block on its side and cut it into 8 squares, roughly 3 by 3 inches and 1-inch thick.

Pour the vinegar into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cook until reduced to a thick syrup consistency. Set aside.

Heat a nonstick grill pan over medium-high heat. Drizzle just enough olive oil over watermelon slices to thinly coat and place on hot grill pan. Grill each side about 2 minutes until grill marks appear; transfer to a plate and season with salt.

To assemble the salads, put about 1/4 cup of baby arugula on a serving plate, followed by a grilled slice of watermelon in the center, and top with a tablespoon of crumbled cheese and another 1/4 cup arugula. Add another watermelon slice and another tablespoon of cheese. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Finish each salad with a very light drizzle of olive oil and balsamic syrup. Dust with black pepper and serve immediately.

Fried Chicken Fears - Extinguished

I have a confession to make. This normally fearless girl in the kitchen has been freaking out about making fried chicken. I chose a southern theme for my Dinner Divas dinner group this month and thought it would be fun to tackle fried chicken. Fun idea but it really scared me. I actually had dreams about it. I kept visualizing myself starting a fire. I've never dealt with that much hot oil before and I all I could do was picture the worst. I woke up early Saturday morning to clean the house and prepare for the dinner. I stalled for as long as I could until I realized I only had an hour before the girls would arrive. I took out my le creuset but then I thought it wasn't deep enough and pictured the oil boiling over. I decided to use the largest, deepest pot I had, my All Clad pasta pot (I know, I'm a kitchen label whore).
I had two containers of peanut oil (waaay too exepensive by the way) and that didn't even fill up the pot halfway, so I added in canola oil until the oil was about halfway up the pot. That was a lot of oil and it took a long time to come to temperature! Good thing my buddies over at bakespace recommended a deep frying thermometer or I would have been in big trouble. Ever put a piece of meat or veggies into a pan of oil that's not hot enough? Yuck! The meat will absorb all the oil and you'll end up with a greasy, soggy, mess. I followed the directions on the recipe exactly and was thrilled with the result. The chicken was perfectly moist and crisp! I was soo excited about it! I don't have to be afraid of deep frying ever again! I'll be honest though, I won't be in a rush to do it again because not only is it fattening but two days later and my house still smells like a fast food joint.

Here's the recipe that I used. Paula uses 1 whole cup of hot sauce. That seemed a bit excessive so I used about half that. Turns out I couldn't taste the spice at all. A friend said that since it was being deep fried it wouldn't really be that spicy if I used it all. So next time I'll add more. This recipe is guaranteed not to fail you, so if you ever get up the nerve to deep fry some chicken this is the recipe to try!


Paula Deen's Southern Fried Chicken

6 to 8 servings

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1 cup hot red pepper sauce
2 cups self-rising flour
2 1/2 pound chicken, cut into pieces

Directions:

House Seasoning, recipe follows

Oil, for frying, preferably peanut oil
Heat the oil to 350 degrees F in a deep pot. Do not fill the pot more than 1/2 full with oil.

In a medium size bowl, beat the eggs. Add enough hot sauce so the egg mixture is bright orange (about 1 cup). Season the chicken with the House Seasoning. Dip the seasoned chicken in the egg, and then coat well in the flour. Place the chicken in the preheated oil and fry the chicken in the oil until brown and crisp. Dark meat takes longer than white meat. Approximate cooking time is 13 to 14 minutes for dark meat and 8 to 10 minutes for white meat.

House Seasoning:

1 cup salt
1/4 cup pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder
To make the House Seasoning, mix the ingredients together and store in an air-tight container for up to 6 months.

Tip - Have a cookie sheet lined with a supermarket paper bag and a cooling rack ready to go. As you remove the chicken place it on the rack so it stays crispy but the excess oil is removed. The brown bag is for clean up, it makes your pan easy to wash, no greasy mess to deal with.

Do not throw oil down your drain, you husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, mother, whoever will KILL you! Seriously, it will clog the drain. I was wondering how I was going to get rid of this oil and I had one of those lightbulb moments. You know the ones where you feel really stupid that it took you so long to figure out. I just used the empty oil containers. A funnel would be really handy for that. If you don't have empty bottles just use a coffee can. Make sure you wait for the oil to cool!!!

4 Step Chicken and Individual Potato Gratins - Coast to Coast Cooking

Do you think YOU could be The Next Food Network Star? Melissa D'Arabian sure did and now she is this seasons winner of her own cooking show. On the final episode of the show the two remainimg contestans, Melissa and Jeffrey had to record an episode of their potential cooking show. I was impressed with both of finalists but I can see myself making Melissa's recipes regularly. This chicken dish is very easy and a method I use (and so does everyone else) all the time. It's funny that Melissa said she invented it but that's okay, I'll let it slide. I was more excited to try the potatoes that she made because they looked so cute when she flipped them out of the muffin tins. She definitely gets pointes for using muffin tins, who doesn't have at least one, right? I love to find new uses for items I already own, it's like getting something new without having to find space for it in my kitchen.

I bet your wondering what the Coast to Coast Cooking is and I'll get to that right now. Every day on Bakespace we discuss what the evening's dinner menu will be. Not only is it fun for us to see what's going on our friends' kitchens but a lot of us use this thread for ideas when we're stuck. Last week my friend Danielle from Cooking for my Peace of Mind was stuck. I told her that I was making Melissa's dish and told her she should make it with me. The idea caught on and Shane of Culinary Alchemy and Spryte of Spryte's Place decided to join in. Dani thought it would be cool to call this Coast to Coast Cooking. She and Shane live in California and Spryte lives in Pittsburgh and of course, I live in New Jersey. We thought it was a great title and a fun idea, so here we are now all blogging about the same thing. We are all putting out own spins on the dish so make sure you check out their blogs to see how theirs turned out!

Spryte's Individual Potato Gratins

Shane's 4 Step Chicken Stroganov

Dani's 4 Step Chicken and Individual Potato Gratins

I pretty much followed Melissa's recipe exactly but I used less lemon juice, a vidalia onion and added artichoke hearts. Melissa was on the money with the red onion. My dish is lacking color with the Vidalia. I should have browned them longer to get more color. The chicken is served on a bed of spinach which she did have a recipe for. I prefer to cook my spinach in garlic and oil so that's what I did. For the potatoes I used a combination of swiss cheese and fontina cheese. I seasoned my potatoes in a bowl before layering them. That was both good and bad. I put in a little too much salt (the cheeses are salty!) but I loved the smoked paprika and Mrs. Dash. They potatoes were very flavorful. I don't know why the potatoes are called 5 Minute Potatoes, according to the recipe the prep and the cooking time are longer than 5 minutes. It doesn't take too long to prepare them though.

Give this a try and see how you can make this different and unique to your own house and your own pantry!



Flexible 4-Step Chicken for Family and Company - Rustic Lemon-Onion Chicken

Recipe courtesy Melissa d'Arabian
Prep Time: 30 min Inactive Prep Time: -- Cook Time: 30 min Level:
Easy Serves:
4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, sliced in half crossways (butterflied, cut all the way through)
1 teaspoon dried thyme, plus 1 small bunch fresh thyme, leaves chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup white wine, optional
1 cup chicken broth
3 lemons, juiced
1 to 2 tablespoons butter

Directions:

Season chicken with dried thyme and salt and pepper. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat and add the oil. Dredge the chicken in flour, add to the hot oil and saute until cooked through. Set chicken aside to rest on plate tented with foil.

In same saute pan, over low heat, add onions and fresh thyme and cook until aromatic.

In a measuring cup, measure out wine, if using, and broth, and add the lemon juice. Turn the heat up to high, and deglaze the pan with the broth mixture until starting to reduce.

Remove the pan from the heat and finish the sauce by whisking in butter. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Place a bed of cooked spinach on a serving platter, top with the chicken. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and serve.





5-Minute Individual Potato Gratins

Recipe courtesy Melissa d'Arabian
Prep Time: 15 min Inactive Prep Time: -- Cook Time: 40 min
4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

Vegetable spray
2 large russet potatoes, roughly peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese
2 green onions, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Spray 8 muffin tins with vegetable spray. Layer potato slices, cheese, and onions into each muffin cup. Season with salt and pepper and top each gratin with 1 or 2 tablespoons of heavy cream. Cover with foil and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, removing the foil halfway through cooking time. Invert gratins onto plate and serve.

Spinach or Broccoli Quiche

This recipe was given to my by my good friend Dawn years ago. For more than 10 years this has been my go to quiche recipe that I love to bring to parties when I don't have the time to come up with something new. It's so quick and easy and there is no crust involved. This has been a huge hit over and over again for me. In fact, last week I brought this to my office on my birthday to share with my coworkers. This is the second time I brought this in and this time I remembered to pass out the recipe . I've done this with Broccoli and Cheddar (and even mushrooms once) but my favorite is the spinach. In my rush to set everything up I forgot to take a picture of the quiche once it was sliced so I am posting a picture of my broccoli quiche that I had saved.



Broccoli/Spinach Quiche


Ingredients:

6 eggs beaten
2 packages frozen broccoli florets, defrosted (OR 2 packages frozen chopped spinach, drained well)
1 package of grated mozzarella
Parmesan cheese to taste (at least ½ cup)
1 ¼ cup bisquick
1 ¼ cup whole milk
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper
EVOO

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.


1. Sauté onion and garlic in oil until softened add broccoli (or spinach) and sauté for about 5 minutes, set aside to cool. Drain any excess oil.

2. Mix together milk and bisquick. Add eggs, broccoli and onion mixture, mozzarella, cheese and broccoli; mix well.

3. Put in a greased pan and cook for about 40-45 minutes or until middle sets. (Can use two round pie pans or 1 large rectangular pan.)

Shane's Blondies with Lowlights

My friend and fellow Bakespace member, Shane, made these wonderful Blondies on his blog Culinary Alchemy. Everyone on bakespace was making them so I had to give them a try. They were fantastic and I've made them many times since. I bet you're wondering why they are called Blondies with Lowlights. When I was making them Steve came over and asked where the chocolate was. I explained to Steve that these were Blondies and not Brownies. Steve said that he would not eat them without chocolate. So in an effort to make Steve (and the chocolate lover in myself) happy I added a small amount of chocolate chips. The chips melted and swirled in the pot. A few days later a few of us were discussing Shane's blondies on the forum. Someone else did the same thing I did and commented on the pretty swirl. Shane popped in with a little joke and called them blondies with lowlights! If you know anything about coloring hair you know that lowlights are when you bring in some strips of darker color into your lighter hair, you know, the opposite of highlights. It was a perfect name and thus Blondies with Lowlights were born. So I guess if you make brownies and swirl in some white chocolate you can call them brownies with highlights!

Blondies with (or without) Lowlights

Cooking Time: 30
Servings: 16
Preparation Time: 15

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Unsalted Butter
1 1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Dark brown Sugar
2 Large eggs
1 large Egg Yolk
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/4 cups AP Flour
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1 Cup Chopped Pecans
1/4 cup Heath Toffee Chips (optional)
½ cup chocolate chips (for lowlights)


Directions:

Line a 13x9 pan with parchment.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a sauce pan, melt butter.
Stir in the brown sugars, stirring until "melted' and the mixture just begins to bubble (This is similar to making a Pecan pie)
Whisk eggs and yolks together with Vanilla.
Pour in the eggs in a steady stream, while whisking constantly to prevent scrambling.
In a small bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt.
Fold Flour into the egg mixture.
Fold in Pecans and toffee chips (if using)
Spread into the pan.
Bake 35-40 minutes (5 minutes less for dark pans)
Remove from oven and cool on a rack.
Lift via parchment and cut when cooled.


Note: I like mine more on the thicker side so I use a pan that's slightly smaller.

Spaghetti Carbonara

This picture does not capture the beauty of this dish. It's not just this picture but every picture I have taken and this is the second time I've taken pictures of it for my blog. To solve this little problem you must come to my house so I can show you how to make this and so we can make it together.

I'm going to admit that it took me try after try to truly perfect this recipe. I've always loved it but sometimes it's too wet, sometimes it's too dry, sometimes it's really just eggs and pasta (what I call Poor Man's Carbonara) but this time I got it right. It's just how I like it. Creamy without being too saucy, flavorful but with a balance of flavors, not too yellow, not too white, it's just perfect...for me. Give it a try, play with the measurements and ingredients, find your perfect balance. Let me know how it works out for you.


Spaghetti Carbonara

1 medium onion, diced
6 slices of bacon, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup pinot grigio (usually i use a dry white but I love the sweetness with the bacon and onions)
1/4 chopped fresh parsley
1 lb spaghetti
3 eggs beaten
2 tbsp heavy cream or milk
1/2 cup or more of romano cheese
salt and pepper
extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water up to a boil and season generously with kosher salt.

2. While water comes to a boil, cook bacon in large pan and cover with a splatter shield so you don't burn yourself. When bacon is cooked remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. (At this point completely ignore the pool of grease on the paper towel, it will all be worth it in the end, I promise.)

3. Add a tablespoon of oil to the bacon drippings and saute onion and garlic. Deglaze the pan with wine and use a wooden spoon to pick up the bits of bacon that stuck to the pan. The cooking term for the tasty morsels (if you care) is called "fond". Once most of the liquid has evaporated turn off the heat.

4. Cook pasta in salted boiling water. While pasta cooks, beat eggs, cream and grated cheese in a small bowl and set aside.

5. When pasta is al dente remove with tongs and add to the pan with onions reserving about 1/2 cup of pasta water. Toss in bacon.

6. Slowly add 1/4 cup of hot pasta water to the eggs whisking quickly to temper the eggs to prevent scrambling. Toss with hot pasta, sprinkle with parsley and add if it seems very dry add more of the pasta water but only if you need it. Top with more romano cheese.

Serve immediately!