What I have been up to...

Beer and brats to kick off Maifest in Amana!

Barbecue chicken stuffed taters. 

The first crop of the season-- some radishes, and baby rainbow chard. (and a reusable target bag... so pretty)

roasted zucchini and summer squash-- timmy's new favorite!

chicken parmesan burgers-- these were amazing!

strawberry rhubarb crumb bars. oh. my. god.

Haircut Dinner?

Before

Last week, I cut 10 inches (or maybe more) off my hair, and donated it to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths program which makes wigs for women with cancer.This is the fourth time I have donated my hair (and probably last since it is starting to go gray), and it has been emotional every time.

After!

Eight and a half years ago, my best friend Mariah died of cancer. She was the strongest and most vibrant person I've ever met, and I still miss her every day. But, her memory lives in me, and I try to channel her passionate spirit in everything I do. While I can't bring Mariah back, and I'm not cut out to do research to prevent cancer or provide support for those suffering like some of my other amazing friends are, something I have been able to do is give my hair so women undergoing chemotherapy have one less thing to take away their dignity.

My "hair cut" meal last Wednesday night was in honor of Mariah. One of her favorite meals was Chicken Fettuccine. For her that meant fettuccine alfredo with chicken, but I took some creative freedom and made one of my specialties. While I'm sure I was not the first person to think of this, it is one of the best dishes that I have ever come up with on my own.

This meal was delicious, and meaningful and reminded me that while adjusting to my new short hair may take awhile, it is worth it to be able to honor Mariah in this way one last time.

Sort of a lame photo, but a delicious meal

Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken stuffed with Goat Cheese

• 2 chicken breasts
• 2 oz goat cheese
• fresh garlic
• fresh herbs (I used Rosemary and basil this time)
• 4 slices of prosciutto
• olive oil

Mince the garlic and chop the herbs and mix into the goat cheese. Set aside. Put chicken breasts on a cutting board and slice into them to create little pockets. Fill with goat cheese and press the pocket shut. Wrap with prosciutto, putting seams on opposite side of the goat cheese pocket. Grill on Medium heat for 20-25 minutes, turning halfway through.

Fettucine with Wine Sauce

• fettucine pasta
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced or grated
• red pepper flakes
• 2 TBSP butter (or butter substitute)
• 2 (or so) cups dry white wine
• grated parmesan 

Heat water for pasta. When it boils, salt heavily and add pasta. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, sautee garlic in olive oil until it becomes tender. Add red pepper flakes and wine and simmer to reduce wine by about half. Reduce heat to low and add butter to sauce. When pasta is one or two minutes shy of perfection, drain and add to pan with wine sauce. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water to add in case pasta dries out. Toss pasta with parmesan (about 2 oz), season liberally with black pepper and a bit of salt, and serve.

Chicken fingers, Asparagus, and Chipotle Dip

A few weeks ago, I got a new cook book. As I've said previously, I absolutely love to read cook books and use them for inspiration, but I typically do not love to use them when it comes time to cook. One recipe I found, though, changed my mind. There was something about the warning of "if you skip anything or do not follow all of these steps exactly your dish will not turn out" on a baked chicken finger recipe that caught my eye. Could these possibly be so complicated that they warrant that warning? I just had to know. So, I filled in Tim on my meal plan and he requested a dipping sauce for the chicken, and I decided to make some asparagus spears too. With a few tweaks, this meal could be absolutely great! The chicken was really tasty, but we found that dipping it in barbecue sauce was much tastier than the chipotle sauce. Next time I will either do barbecue or buffalo, but I will definitely make these chicken fingers again!

 Chicken Fingers

• 1 pound chicken breast tenders (I bought mine pre-cut, but it would be very simple to just cut up chicken breasts... or leave them whole for that matter).
• about a cup of buttermilk in a shallow dish
• about a cup of panko breadcrumbs in a shallow dish
• salt and pepper
• cooking spray 

First, preheat the oven to 425 with your baking sheet in it. While it's preheating, season the chicken tenders really well with S&P, and then dip in buttermilk. Allow excess to drip off and dip in Panko bread crumbs-- press them on so they stick and then put tenders on a wire rack to sit for a minimum of ten minutes. This is where, in the book, they had a big warning: DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP IF YOU WANT TO LIVE (okay maybe not that severe). After ten minutes, spray tenders all over with cooking spray. Take hot pan from oven and spray it with cooking spray too, and then bake tenders for 22 minutes. Yes, exactly 22. Weird, I know. Anyway, when you take it out, you will have golden brown, crunchy, amazing "fried" chicken tenders.

my go-to asparagus dish

Grilled Asparagus

• Asparagus
• Olive oil
• salt and pepper

Toss asparagus in oil and shake on seasonings. Grill or broil for 6 to 8 minutes depending on thickness of stalks. 

too-spicy chipotle dip

Chipotle Dipping Sauce

•  1 chipotle pepper from a can (I rinsed of the Adobo sauce b/c I don't love that added flavor)
• 3 TBSP mayo 
• zest from 1 orange
• 1/4 cup (? I didn't pay attention) plain yogurt (mine is local AND organic cuz I'm cool like that)
• a couple chopped chives (both in the mix and then for garnish

Put all ingredients into a food processor-- pulse til smooth. Taste and add more yogurt or pepper to achieve desired spicy level and add any other seasonings you see fit. Remember, the longer the dip sits, the spicier it will get. I forgot this little fact and thought "it hardly tastes like pepper" and stupidly added a second one. Three hours later when it was time for dinner, the sauce was so spicy I could barely stand it.

Grilled Chicken, Lemon-scented Asparagus, and Panzanella

Oh my gosh my blog is so messed up. Part blogger maintenance and spontaneous deletions, and part procrastination... but it is taking way longer than I would like to catch up.

So, instead of racking my brain for details about dishes I made two weeks ago, I figure I should jump to what I made last night (5/16/2011) for dinner while it is still fresh!

Grilled Chicken
After a successful marinade for my pork chops this weekend (blog entry will probably appear in a month), I have been on a marinade kick. When I was flipping through a grilling magazine grocery store, I saw the headline "black tea soaked chicken" and thought, "whaaaaat?" Anyway, I was so intrigued, I had to do it.

• 3 boneless, skinless, organic free range chicken breasts (b/c I'm paranoid about chicken)
• 2 scoops of loose English Breakfast tea and two cups boiling water
• whole cloves
• whole peppercorns
• 1 TBSP agave nectar (honey would also work-- but put this in while water is hot)
• worstestecan'tspellit
• olive oil
• salt

First, I made the tea (just left the leaves in) and allowed it to cool to room temperature. I then added the other ingredients minus olive oil and salt. The oil I rubbed directly on the chicken, and then sprinkled it with sea salt. Then, I poured the marinade over the chicken and put it in the fridge for two hours. With chicken marinades, it's usually the longer the better, so if I could do this again, I would probably try to put it on in the morning. Also, I might try pounding out the chicken to thinner, even pieces.
When it was time to grill, I just scraped off most of the tea and cloves and threw the breasts on a pre-heated grill for 12 minutes (turning once).


Lemon-scented Asparagus

Over sharing-- I have never in my life had my pee smell funny after eating Asparagus. I hear people talking about it a lot (which I realize is also weird), but have never experienced it myself. But this weekend I got fresh asparagus (or ass-per-gas as my dad used to call it) from the farmer's market and WHOA. Now I know what everyone else is talking about... and I do NOT like it! I'm going to go back to store-bought asparagus to avoid this horrible plague.

• Asparagus
• Olive oil
• Salt, Pepper to taste
• Lemon juice (could have used zest too but forgot and juiced it first)
• leftover cheese from Panzanella

Toss asparagus in oil (you hardly need any, just keep tossing), S&P, and a bit of juice. Grill for 6-8 minutes. Drizzle more juice and put cheese on to get melty. Eat and enjoy!

Panzanella
Leave it up to the Italians to come up with a salad made out of bread. I haven't had a good panzanella since I was in Rome last, but I for some reason was inspired to make it. Actually I know the reason. I looked at my counter and saw nearly-stale dinner rolls, ripe tomatoes, a red onion, a lemon, and olive oil. And then I looked in my cupboard and saw a bowl to put all of those things in and it was done. Anyway, panzanella is one of those things that allows you to get use out of ingredients you otherwise might throw away. It's different every time based on what you have available, so you should be creative!

• day-old (or more) bread (preferably crusty) cut or torn into bite sized pieces
• tomatoes, diced (I used two yellow and one red)
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• lemon
• olive oil
• S&P
• red pepper
• basil
• capers
• cheese-- I used a combination of parm, romano, and mozarella

Put the bread in a large bowl-- this is where the whole salad will end up. Put the tomatoes in a smaller bowl with a dash of olive oil and a generous amount of salt. Then, wait five minutes and be  amazed at how much juice the tomaters produced. Use a slotted spoon to scoop out the tomatoes and add to the bread, and keep all of the juice.  Put the onion in yet another bowl and cover with juice of half a lemon. Let this sit 5-10 minutes to "pickle" the onions. Then, put the onions (but NOT the juice from the bottom of the bowl-- throw that out b/c it is nasty onion flavored) with the bread. Add basil, capers, black and red pepper, and whatever other flavor you like to bread bowl. To the tomato juice, add more olive oil and the rest of the lemon juice and lighty whisk. Then, pour it over everything in the large bowl and toss. Finally, toss with cheese.

Dinner on the grill

Last night I was cooking for one, which is usually BORING (not to mention difficult!) but I decided to take advantage of the sunny day and fire up my grill. I kind of made things up as I went, and it ended up surprisingly good.

Herb stuffed chicken for one--
1 chicken breast
a bunch of fresh herbs (I had fresh parsley and basil on hand)
olive oil
1 clove garlic
lemon
two strips of bacon
tooth picks

First I made a fresh rough-chop pesto. So, I smashed up a clove of garlic, chopped up a big handful of flat leaf parsley and then basil. I have two varieties of basil in my house. One is the standard basil you'd get everywhere, and the other (of course I don't remember the name) has as smaller leaves and a fruitier flavor. For this, I used a combination of both. I added a splash of olive oil , a bit of lemon zest (and one squeeze of juice) and salt and pepper.
Next, I preheated the grill on Medium-High.
To stuff the chicken, I took a paring knife and cut a pocket into the chicken where it is thickest. I shoved all the pesto in. There was more pesto than could fit, but that was okay. I wrapped the overflowing chicken in bacon to hold in all of the goodies, and then ran toothpicks through the end to hold it all together. I threw this on the grill for 20 minutes, turning once (beware of flareups from the bacon!) Wrapping the chicken in bacon ensures that you will end up with juicy and tender meat, even if you leave it on the grill too long.

To serve, I sliced it thinly. In hindsight, I should have just left it whole. The bacon fell apart and it just got ugly. But it tasted pretty good!

Green Beans
1 serving of frozen green beans
1TBSP olive oil
salt and pepper

These were super easy and surprisingly delicious. I took 1 sheet of aluminum foil, sprayed the bottom, and then threw the frozen beans down, and drizzled the oil and seasonings over the top. I sealed up the foil packet and threw it on the grill for about 8 minutes. I make fresh veggies this way (potatoes in particular) fairly often, but this was my first foray into the frozen/grill world. The beans turned out great! They were tender, the ones on the bottom of the packet picked up the grill marks, but the whole packet developed a great smokey flavor. I can't wait to try grilling other veggies!

soup for the sicky-poo

I've got a sick honey. And even though he's taken care of himself just fine for 29 years, I am convinced that if I don't make him soup and bring him orange juice that he will die. Also I am going to Florida tomorrow and feel guilty that I will be lounging on the beach while he is coughing on his couch.

So, like a good girlfriend, I made him some soup. It was mostly a "clean out my fridge/freezer" kind of soup and the only thing I needed from the store was chicken stock.

I did a base of onion and celery, then added salt, pepper, chicken stock and a bunch of chopped up chicken breast meat. After that was cooked through I added carrots and red potatoes and other seasonings (bay leaf, two shakes of cayenne, a bunch of basil). Right before I took it off the stove I added a crap load of spinach and a can of northern beans. One thing I did today that was different from usual was I added lemon zest and a bit of lemon juice (I don't remember where in the timeline I did this, but it was done). I got the idea from Giada at Home (great show) and thought I'd try it out.

Heading out with a big soup urn shortly-- I'm hoping that this hearty, healthy, and flavorful soup will help cure my sicky-poo!

Dinner a la Rachael Ray

Last night I used one of my favorite cook books for a bit of inspiration. This cook book is Rachael Ray's All-Occasion Cookbook. Ms. Ray gets a bad rap sometimes but I think her recipes are great. They aren't the most gourmet, but they are speedy, healthy, and tasty.

For our Saturday night dinner, I used three recipes:
1. "Too easy" chicken with leeks-- basically, you brown two chicken breasts in a skillet; remove them to soften some leeks; add the chicken back and pour some white wine over the whole thing and cook til done.
2. Pesto mashed potatoes-- I made my own pesto earlier in the week, but the jarred stuff works really well too. Tim actually was in charge of the potatoes. He chopped up about 2 pounds of red potatoes, boiled til soft, and then mashed with chicken stock and about 3/4 cup of fresh pesto.
3. Mixed green salad-- one heart of romaine, one head of radicchio, and one fennel bulb. Added a little balsamic and olive oil, and threw on some Parmesan shavings for good measure.

The meal was decent, but nothing to rave about. The potatoes were the best part, and I ate the leftovers for dinner tonight! The chicken wasn't done when the recipe told me it would be so we ate the meal in shifts. Scheduling a meal correctly to have everything completed at the same time is one of the hardest things about cooking. I feel like I've had 20 years of experience so having a meal-in-shifts makes me incredibly cranky. The salad was decent but would have served 20 people. I probably would have preferred a simple lemon vinaigrette to the balsamic as well.

The potatoes will definitely show up again.

(mini) Chicken Pot Pie

Ever since my February issue of Martha Stewart Living arrived, I have been craving the chicken pot pie that is pictured throughout. When Tim brought it up last weekend (Martha is in the bathroom, so everyone reads it), I knew it was time to try it out! However, I didn't want to stick to Martha's recipe and not give anyone else a chance, so I did some searching online for the perfect recipe. And then.... I didn't follow any of them. I sort of used Martha's in terms of proportions of ingredients and cook time, but the ingredients more resembled Ina Garten's (who is a goddess, by the way.)  Either way-- it was great. Here's what I did:

1 quarter of a yellow onion (in the fridge) finely diced
1 celery stalk finely chopped
1 red potato, peeled and cubed
2 carrots, peeled and diagonally sliced
1 chicken breast, cubed
1/4 cup (or so) frozen peas
glug of olive oil
1 cup (ish) chicken stock
glug of sherry
1/3 cup (ish) 2 % milk (because that's what I had)
2 (ish) teaspoons corn starch
puff pastry
egg (for egg wash)
salt, pepper, thyme, and sage to taste

First I preheated the oven to 425. While it was warming up, I put the onion, celery, and olive oil in a bit pot over medium heat and sauteed until everything was translucent. Then, I added the potatoes and carrots and sauteed for 5-10 minutes stirring occasionally. I also added Thyme (just ground), salt, and a few shakes of pepper at this point. Then, just as the potato and carrot were becoming tender, I added a glug of Sherry and let it cook down (about 3 minutes). At that point I added the cubed chicken and chicken broth (and put a lid on until it boiled). After boiling for several minutes I added the peas, the milk and the corn starch (I first whisked it with some water so it wouldn't chunk up). Then I let it boil again and thicken up.

Then I spooned the mixture into two mini pie-pans. A big pie pan would do, as would a bunch of ramekins. But for dinner with my honey, the two little minis were perfect! I put a piece of puff pastry over both-- with enough extra dough to spill over the edge. I did a quick egg wash and cut a slit in the top of each and popped them into the oven for around 15 minutes (mostly I just kept an eye on them, and when the top was golden brown I knew it was done!)

personal pans of deliciousness

The chicken pot pies were DE-LISH! Now I am actually tempted to follow some of the recipes I've been looking at exactly to figure out the best possible version. The dish got good marks all around-- not too difficult and not too unhealthy. Nice and filling on a frigid winter night!

On the side, I served a salad of bibb lettuce, walnuts, chopped fennel, and a dijon vinaigrette.

VERY good Wednesday night dinner.

Curried Chicken Salad

This morning I worked from home, which means I forgot to eat breakfast until almost 11 am. So, come 3 pm I was starving for lunch even though it was practically my dinner time (I am like a senior citizen and usually eat at five).

So, for "linner" today, I made myself some curried chicken salad using a leftover chicken breast from last night. If you know me well, you may find this odd. I don't usually eat leftover meat. In fact I have a phobia of it. There is a flavor I have termed "old chicken" (whether we're talking about chicken, beef, seafood, etc) and I avoid it like the plague. The funny thing I've figured out, though, is that "old chicken" only comes out if the meat is re-heated. So, a nice and cold chicken salad is a happy exception to my rule!

For 2-3 servings (depending if you make a sandwich, a lettuce roll up, or just eat it with a fork). 

1 leftover chicken breast-- diced up
1 celery stalk finely diced
1 small shallot finely diced
2 TBSP (or so... I didn't really measure) golden raisins (b/c that is what I had on hand).
1TBSP (again rough measurement) walnuts
1/4 cup mayo. Mine is Hellman's and it is "light".
Curry powder to taste-- I started with a heaping TBSP and then added a few more shakes.
Salt and pepper to taste-- I used zero salt and approximately two twists of coarsely ground pepper

Mix it all up and serve it however you like. Today, I plopped big spoonfuls on pieces of bibb lettuce.

This chicken salad was just what I needed today. It has a little bit of everything-- spice from the shallot and the curry, crunch from the celery and the walnuts, and sweet and chewy from the raisins. Plus, it's nice and healthy. Winner! I'm looking forward to eating the rest for lunch tomorrow.

Monday fine dining

My favorite way to survive a work week is my Monday evening yoga class. It is relaxing, rejuvenating, and helps me lose the "ugh... Monday" feeling and face the week ahead. And after I treat my body so nicely for an hour, I feel like it is required to feed it something healthy and delicious.

On tonight's menu is chicken breast on a bed of sauteed fennel with a side of corn (just because it was in my freezer). I made the chicken the easiest way I know how-- rub it with olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper, and pop it in a 425 degree oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, I add liquid, turn the heat off, and let the chicken stay in the oven for another 10 or so minutes. Tonight I also added tarragon (a licorice flavor like fennel) and orange zest-- and my liquid was some OJ and chicken broth, though white wine or stock or anything would do.

While the chicken was roasting, I put one TBSP of butter in a little sautee pan and swirled it til it melted. Then I added one diced up shallot and let it sautee for just about a minute before I added some sliced fennel. I tossed it around to coat it in the buttery goodness, and then added a few fennel fronds, some salt and pepper, and about a teaspoon of orange zest. I put the burner on low and just stirred it every few minutes.

The corn was just frozen so I put it in the micro with a bit of water and a TBSP of olive oil and a dash of salt (always necessary when using olive oil-- it makes the flavor pop!

The meal got low marks in terms of color. Everything was white! I should have made a green veggie at least. But, it tasted good. The fennel especially-- I adore fennel  any which way so this is no surprise. The chicken breast was huge so I am saving the leftovers for chicken salad tomorrow!

Yum.