Panko Chicken

This was going to be a salad night.  Alas, it is dreary-wet outside.  Not really conducive to grilling and salad-making.  Panko sounded so much better.

It was an easy one...  I mixed a bit of mayonnaise and dijon mustard and dipped the chicken in it, and then coated them in panko bread crumbs.  I browned them in a skillet with a bit of olive oil and then finished them in the oven.

The potatoes were quartered, drizzled with olive oil, and seasoned with garlic, paprika, salt & pepper.  Into a 425° oven for about 25 minutes.

Zucchini was sliced and sauteed with a pinch of butter, salt and pepper.

30 minutes start-to-finish with most of the time waiting for the oven to do its magic.

I need to check tomorrow's weather.....


Cupcakes

I am finally using these way-fun cupcake holders!  I first saw them on Trevor's blog and knew I had to get some.  I picked them up at Fante's on 9th Street in South Philadelphia for a couple of bucks.  They are not free-standing.  You need to still put them in a muffin tin, but they pop right out!

I made a basic yellow cupcake and frosted with Chocolate Buttercream.  The recipe makes about 16 cupcakes, but I divided it into 12 and baked about 6 minutes longer.

Yellow Cupcakes

  • 2 cups cake flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350° and line 16 muffin cups with paper liners.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in milk and vanilla until just combined. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, beating until just combined after each addition.

Divide batter among muffin cups and bake in middle of oven about 20 minutes.

I was just slightly neurotic about filling them - not wanting any batter on the "wings"  (neurotic?!?  MOI?!?)  - so I used a pastry bag without a tip.  Worked like a charm.

Same with the icing.

 

They're yummy!


Rice Salad and Focaccia

What started out as just something to use up the last of the no-knead dough turned into dinner tonight.  I like it when meals just sort of evolve.

Victor will be out of town for a couple of days and we head to California for my niece Jessica's wedding when he gets back, so cooking-wise, it's going to be a use-up-whatever-is-in-the-house next few days.

This is always a fun challenge.

Tonight started it off with the aforementioned no-knead dough because whenever Victor leaves for a few days I have a habit of eating hot dogs.  Well, chili dogs to be precise.  I thought I'd give myself a fighting chance to eat something different.

I oiled a sheet pan, spread the dough out, drizzled it with more olive oil, and then covered it with tomatoes, mushrooms, and bell pepper.  A bit of garlic powder, and then a good shredding of Locatelli and some pepper.  Into a 450° oven for 25 minutes.

I also made a nice big batch of rice salad.

Rice and Oat Salad

  • 1/2 cup black whole grain rice
  • 1/2 cup mahogany whole grain rice
  • 1/2 cup wild rice
  • 1/2 cup whole oats
  • 1 qt chicken broth (use water or veg stock to make vegetarian)
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 star anise
  • 4 allspice berries
  • 8 peppercorns
  • 1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 1 stalk celery, diced
  • 1/2 large zucchini, diced
  • 3 green onions, minced
  • 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
  • 1/2 cup golden raisins
  • 1/4 cup strawberry balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 cup olive oil

In a large pot, bring first 11 ingredients to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and cook for 45 minutes.  Cool.

When rice is cool, mix in remaining ingredients.  Mix well and refrigerate.

And, I had taken some bone-in chicken breasts out of the freezer before planning dinner, so I poached then and shredded the meat.

I am now set for meals until Victor gets home!

(I also made cupcakes!)


BBQ and Broadway

Last night was BBQ and Broadway in Berwyn.  Okay...  slightly off-Broadway, but a Broadway show with as much heart as you'll ever see.

We were at the Footlighter's Theatre in Berwyn, PA.  It is a Community Theatre now in its 81st season.  81 years of entertainment.  That, in itself, is impressive.

The show was Gypsy, based on the memoirs of stripper Gypsy Rose Lee.  (Just to show ya how old I am, I actually remember the Gypsy Rose Lee Show on TV.) Ah...  the good ol' days.

It was a great performance by some really fun and talented folks.  There's something extremely fulfilling about seeing local community theatre.  Footlighters probably only seats 150 people.  There just isn't more intimate theatre out there.

Let Me Entertain You, indeed!

If you're in the neighborhood of Berwyn, PA, the show is running through May 1st and tickets are only $15.00.  Less than a movie and a lot more entertaining!

For sustenance before the show, we grilled chicken.  Bone-in breasts with the Strawberry BBQ Sauce I made a while back.   Mashed yellow sweet potatoes and broccoli.

And seeded rolls.

I used the no-knead dough and rolled the rolls in sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, and flax seeds.

Great dinner.  Great show.


Burgers and Fauxllinis

It's about 80 degrees outside.  Wind is blowing at 25+ mph.  Windows open.  Perfect weather to light up the grill!  And to mix up a fauxllini.

What's a fauxllini, you ask?!?  Pureed peaches and seltzer, of course!  Over ice.  Perfectly refreshing.  What I didn't know was where the Bellini got its name...

This drink was created 1943 at Harry's Bar in Venice, Italy in honor of the painter Geovani Bellini. Giuseppi Cipriani was the inventor. The original recipe was made with fresh pureed white peaches with a bit of raspberry or cherry juice to give the drink a pink glow.

How 'bout that.

Yesterday - sans Bellinis - we ended up turning on the air conditioning.  I don't care what the calendar says - when the thermometer inside says 89°, the date is immaterial.  All the real Bellinis in the world wouldn't have made it any cooler.  (Okay, maybe I wouldn't have cared what the temperature was, but it wouldn't have made it cooler!)  But I digress...

I had a hankerin' for a burger on the barbie all day long.  And I got me one.

Charred to perfection with mayo, mustard, catsup, pickles, onions, tomatoes, avocado, and cheese.  On a whole wheat bun, of course.  With fries.

It was a mess to eat.  Even cutting it in half didn't help.  Everything was just sliding everywhere.  I used half-a-dozen napkins.  The perfect burger.

It's supposed to rain like hell tonight and then be a mere 40 degrees cooler tomorrow.

Practically casserole weather!  I think I'll make salads, anyway.

Gotta love it.


Salads and Chocolate Pudding

It's hot outside.  That means salads inside.  Lots of salads.  We have a work-friend of Victor's staying with us tonight, so he asked yet another friend to join us for dinner tonight.   These three are triple-trouble.  What a hoot!

Grilled marinated chicken atop salad greens, blanched green beans, fava beans, broccoli and cauliflower, hard-cooked eggs (NOT left over from Easter!) tomatoes, mushrooms, black grapes, blueberries, and a mango dressing.  I also reworked last nights rice into a rice salad.

And a small loaf of homemade whole wheat bread.

And chocolate mousse.  Valrhona chocolate mousse.

With raspberries.

It's a basic cornstarch pudding base with whipped cream folded in, with crushed raspberries and additional Valrhona chocolate chunks.

Yum.

Valrhona Chocolate Pudding

  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon espresso powder
  • pinch salt
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 6 ounces Valrhona chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the cornstarch, sugar, espresso powder, and salt in a heavy pan. Slowly whisk in the milk. Place over low heat stirring well.  After about 10 minutes, when the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of the spoon, add the chocolate. Continue stirring for about 2 to 4 minutes, or until the pudding is smooth and thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Cover with plastic and cool completely.

For mousse, whip 1 cup of heavy cream with 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tbsp cocoa powder, 1/2 tsp espresso powder, and 1/4 cup sugar until stiff.  Fold into chilled pudding.


Out of Africa

It's no secret that I love flavorful-hot and spicy foods.  Schezuan, hot Indian or Thai curries, Ethiopian berberé (a woman I worked with at UCSF made it fresh for me!), hot and spicy Mexican chilis, boonie peppers from Guam (thanks, Jay!), and piri-piri from Mozambique, to name but a few.

They're all different.  All unique.

Tonight's meal started with some beef tips I had cut, marinated in the Mozambique piri-piri, vacuum-packed, and froze.  I picked up the piri-piri (which, literally means "chilly-chilly" in Swahili) at Cost Plus last time we were home.  (I also got lots of berberé that trip because Mewded is not around to make it for me, anymore.)  It has a nice kick.  Traditional recipes for the spice blend (piri-piri can either be the pepper itself or a spice blend or condiment) vary, but the addition of lemon is very common.

Homemade Piri-Piri Sauce

  • 10 red hot chiles (birds eye-type are best)
  • 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 2 T. finely chopped cilantro
  • 1 T. chopped parsley
  • 5 chopped garlic cloves
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 1/2 cup peanut oil

Mash everything but oil in a food processor.  Slowly drizzle in oil.

It should keep - refrigerated - for a goodly amount of time.

So...  with spicy beef cubes as the main plate, and leftover chilled asparagus from yesterday, I decided we needed an accompanying rice.  Wishing to stay on the African continent, I typed in "Mozambique Rice" and didn't find much.  I started searching a little deeper and found Zanzibar Pilau.  Zanzibar is just north of Mozambique, so, at least I was in the right part of the world.

Unfortunately, the recipe was for a whole meal - and I really just wanted rice.

I improvised.

Here's the recipe I started with:

Zanzibar Pilau

The word pilau comes from the Persian word pilav or pilaw, which is also the origin of pilaf, as in "rice pilaf". The pilav rice cooking technique is found throughout the Middle East and West Asia (i.e., Turkey, India, Pakistan). It has been spread across Africa by the Arabs, and was brought by enslaved Africans to the Americas. It is especially common in the Caribbean and Southern United States. In West Africa and the Americas the name has become pearlu, perloo, perlau, plaw, et cetera. Whatever the name, it is rice, vegetables, and meat cooked in a seasoned broth. Here is the Swahili way to make this omnipresent rice dish. See also: Biriani.
women in the comoros

What you need

  • one-half teaspoon cumin seeds
  • one-half teaspoon whole black peppercorns
  • several whole cloves ("cloves" not "cloves of garlic")
  • one cinnamon stick (or a few pinches ground cinnamon)
  • a few cardamom pods (or a few pinches ground cardamom)
  • oil for frying
  • several cloves of garlic
  • two teaspoons fresh ginger
  • three cups of rice (uncooked)
  • two to four onions, chopped
  • one to two pounds of meat (beef, chicken, mutton, fish, shrimp, or prawns), cut into bite-sized pieces
  • two to four tomatoes, chopped (or canned tomatoes)
  • two to four potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
  • one apple, peeled and cut into slices (optional)
  • one cup raisins or sultanas (optional)

What you do

* Combine cumin, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom in a teacup, cover with warm water, stir, and set aside. (Cooking tip: The spices can be tied up in a small sack, like a tea bag, or can be put into a tea infuser before being placed in the warm water. This avoids having whole spices in the dish when it is served.)
* Pound the garlic and ginger together and set aside. Wash the rice, drain, and set aside.
* Heat oil in deep pot. Fry onions until clear. Stir. Add garlic and ginger. Continue stirring and frying until the flavors have mixed -- it should develop a nice aroma.
* Add the meat, stir and cook over high heat until meat is browned on the outside. Reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes. Remove the meat and most of the onions, and set them aside. Add the rice and stir it thoroughly to coat each grain of rice with the oil. Add the spices and water. Stir. Wait five minutes. Add the tomatoes. Cover and simmer for a few minutes. Stir occasionally.
* Check every few minutes to see if more water is needed and add water (or broth) as necessary. Stir as liquid is added. After ten minutes add the potatoes (and/or the optional apples or raisins) and the meat and onions. Keep covered, keep checking, add water if bottom of pot is dry. Continue cooking over low heat for ten more minutes.
* Remove pot from stove, keep covered. Place entire pot in warm oven for an additional ten to twenty minutes. All moisture should be absorbed by rice and potatoes should be tender. Serve hot.

I had seen several recipes out there including one that had coconut and mango, so I just combined them.

The Quick Version

I sliced a small onion and sauteed it in a pat of butter.  I then added about a half-teaspoon each of cumin, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom to the pot and cooked it all until it was really fragrant.  I then added 1 cup of whole grain brown rice  and coated it with the spices and onions.  Next went 2 cups of beef broth (since I was cooking beef) about 8 sliced sun-dried tomatoes, about a cup of cubed mango and a half-cup of shredded coconut.

Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

I know it worked well because Victor cleaned his plate!

We saved the leftovers and I am going to rework it into a rice salad tomorrow.

Yum.


Easter 2010

It's over.  And what fun we had!

Due to our Anniversary and some scheduling stuff, we ended up swapping our Thanksgiving for Marie's Easter.  I think I'm liking Easter even more than Thanksgiving.  It's a bit sillier.  I mean, Peeps.  What more need I say?!?

We did Brunch for 18.

  • Mini muffins
    • Blackberry Lemon Corn
    • Banana Walnut
  • Brioche
    • cinnamon roll on a stick
    • classic
  • Gadoodies
  • Uncle Rudy's Easter Pie
  • Baked Ham with Jameson and Lingonberry glaze
  • Irish and Italian Sausages
  • Tahoe Brunch
  • Roasted teeny potatoes with garlic and rosemary
  • Asparagus with chopped heirloom tomatoes
  • Marie's pineapple bread pudding
  • Leah's fruit salad
  • Joann's cannoli
  • Mini lemon mousse
  • Cannoli
  • Strawberry Ricotta pie
  • Strawberry Whipped Cream Cake
  • Joann's homemade candies
  • White and Dark chocolate-dipped Peeps
  • Mimosas

I'm sure I'm missing something.  There was just so much to eat!

We started planning a couple of weeks ago and pretty much had the menu set last week.  And then it was just a matter of doing a little bit now and then.  We brought up the Easter decorations last Sunday.  There are baskets and bunnies, plates and things we've accumulated over the years.  Our starting point is "what do we have and what do we need?"  I did as much grocery shopping as I could on Monday.

Tablecloths and napkins were ironed on Wednesday.  I folded the Easter Bunny napkins Wednesday night.  They sat on the file cabinet in the office.  I made the Brioche dough Wednesday.  Dipped all the Peeps yesterday.  Made the Tahoe Brunch yesterday.  I made the butter molds Thursday.  They're a bit of a family joke, so I went out and got a lamb butter mold.  It's pretty silly.  The lamb head looks like a cross between the Sphinx and George Washington.  Really silly.  Victor made the Easter Pies on Friday.  Table was set last night.  I made the place-setting Easter Bunny bags Thursday night.

Today was easy.  Did all the baking, first thing this morning.  My only minor error was dipping the cinnamon brioche rolls and then trying to put them in the planter on the filled plate.  I started dripping icing on the lemon corn muffins and the plate, so I did them separately and then assembled the plate when they were set.  I finished the mousse, and then filled the double ovens with the ham, the potatoes, the sausages (that I had par-boiled), and the Tahoe Brunch casseroles.  Oh, and with 18 people arriving at 1pm, I had to run up and pick up Cybil from the groomer at noon, because Victor was in town picking up his aunt and uncle.

I admit I couldn't do this - or any other holiday meal - without two full-sized ovens.  It just wouldn't happen.  They were the best investment we ever made.  That, and the fact that Victor and I really work well together in the kitchen.  We do a great ballet.

And I do plan the menu around how something is going to be cooked, things that can cook together at the same temperature, and how many burners, pans, and pots I need.  It's become fairly instinctive at my advanced age, but it really helps to look at the menu and determine cooking needs and times.  Timing is everything, but planning even more so.

It also helps to have the menu in the kitchen with you to check things off as they go onto the table. Even though I had the menu written in front of me, in the chaos that was getting the food on the table around all of the people who were in the kitchen even after I had thrown them all out twice, I sat down and forgot the asparagus in the 'fridge.  Fortunately, Victor noticed it right away (he made it, after all!) and brought it out.

So we had a great day, great fun, and fun food.

I'm already thinking about next year!   Peep Easter Island keeps going through my head.....

Think of the possibilities!