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.
Wintery Pasta & Cheesy Garlic Bread
Tonight was going to be salads with grilled chicken. Slushy snow is falling from the sky. We had pasta, instead.
It's been raining all day, we're under a flood watch, it's cold, windy, and the aforementioned slush just made my day. A lovely salad just wasn't going to work.
I took the chicken breasts I was going to grill and cut them up and sauteed them in a braising pan. I added some chopped broccoli, orange cauliflower, zucchini, and garlic. And salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
Next was about 2 cups of chicken broth, then a cup of shredded Italian cheeses.
I then added about 6 ounces of cooked tri-color rotini pasta, some chopped parsley, and about 6 ounces of small fresh mozzarella balls. I mixed it all up, thickened it with a bit of cornstarch, and popped it into the oven for 30 minutes.
And while it was baking, I made some cheesy garlic bread.
It's supposed to be in the mid-80s Friday and Saturday.
Spring Salads
The thermometer outside may say Winter right now, but the calendar is saying Spring! Spring means salads. Besides, I had to pay another buck at work today. I know I'm maintaining by the scale at home, but the one at work is giving me grief. But... It's the one we're all using, so as long as I know I'm really not gaining weight right now, I'll drop the buck into the kitty.
In the meantime, I do need to be a bit more serious about this.
And I really do like salads.
Grilled chicken, peppers, strawberries, blackberries, yellow tomatoes, hard-cooked eggs, a bit of cheese - and spring mix lettuce.
And fresh-baked homemade bread.
Yum.
Chicken Salad Salad
The chicken I roasted Sunday has given forth another meal - a chicken salad salad. This was actually a planned meal - not something I often do. But when I roasted the chicken Sunday, I planned at least 2 more meals from it - a salad and a soup. The carcass is simmering as I type.
The chicken salad was your basic - chicken, onion, celery, pickle, salt and pepper, bound with mayonnaise. I put a big ol' scoop into a tomato I sliced in eighths and set on a bed of mixed greens. I then added cheese and garlic tortolloni, blackberries, and Victor made a simple vinaigrette. A loaf of bulgur whole wheat bread finished off the meal. And me.
And lest anyone thing we've totally lost our minds and are eating a whole loaf of bread every night... Not exactly true. I'm making 10-12oz boules. We each get a few slices at dinner, and Victor has sandwich bread for lunch the following day.
I am loving the weather change. I lovelovelove snow, but I love warm even more. Salads are really making me smile.
And so is the fresh-baked bread.
Tonight's loaf was the whole wheat dough with about 1/4 cup of bulgur wheat mixed in and sprinkled on top. And roasted garlic butter to spread on the warm slices.
There is just nothing better...
Sunday Roast Chicken
I installed new under-cabinet lights today. They are so bright against the white tile we can use them to land an airplane in the kitchen. I'm psyched!
We had low-volt lights installed when we did the kitchen in 2001. They worked fine until 2007 or so. The transformer blew and then the replacement blew. Not good. Last year, we had them redone as rope lights. Also not good. They just didn't put out enough light. I even added to them. Still not enough light. Our kitchen is always dark - and even more so in winter.
So... off to the local lighting store. Any idea how many options one has for under-cabinet lights?!? Any idea how much money one can spend on under-cabinet lights?!? Holy light-bulb, Batman! I wanted them to work on a dimmer switch, and I wanted them hard-wired. I didn't want to have to build anything. We found some xenon lights that fit the bill perfectly - and fit our minimal budget.
We can see, again. Our always-dark kitchen is now bright and cheery. I only cursed a few times, too.
With new lights ablaze, I roasted a chicken for dinner. I ground up a few juniper berries with rosemary, garlic, salt, pepper and just a bit of olive oil and spread it under the skin. Into a 375° oven for about and hour and 15 minutes. Thermometer was at 170°.
Egg noodles with pan gravy and spinach with mushrooms finished off the plate.
And Victor was so enamored of the new lights that he decided to bake a cake for dessert!
A flourless chocolate cake to munch on while watching the Oscars.
Flourless Chocolate Cake
- 1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 9 large eggs, separated
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
- 1/4 cup strong black coffee
- 2 cups heavy cream, cold
- Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan.
Put the chocolate and butter into the top of a double boiler (or in a heatproof bowl) and heat over (but not touching) about 1-inch of simmering water until melted. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a mixing bowl until light yellow in color. Whisk a little of the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture to temper the eggs – this will keep the eggs from scrambling from the heat of the chocolate; then whisk in the rest of the chocolate mixture. Add the coffee and mix well.
Beat the egg whites in a mixing bowl until stiff peaks form and fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until the cake is set, the top starts to crack and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it, 25 to 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes, then remove sides of pan.
Serve at room temperature dusted with confectioners’ and the whipped cream.
This is just a great cake. Every time he makes it I'm in chocolate heaven!
C'mon Oscars!
Chipotle Chicken Sandwich
I feel like such a slacker. I didn't bake the bread or hand-cut the french fries tonight. Sometimes ya just gotta go with the flow.
I had taken chicken out of the freezer this morning with no clear idea of what I was going to do with it. This is a perfect example of why I don't plan or shop for meals in advance. I just don't know on Monday what I'm going to want on Friday - or any other day of the week. I keep plenty of ingredients in the house and let my taste buds take me where they want to go. I would much rather open the 'fridge and see something and think "Gee, I need to use this - let me think of something" rather than opening the 'fridge and seeing the ingredients for chicken pot pie - and it's an unexpected 70° outside! It may be pure delusion on my part, but it seems like I have more creative control this way.
So... I had chicken and no clear idea of what I was going to do.
At some point this afternoon, I started thinking crepes, which lead to tortillas which lead to melted cheese and Mexican which lead to tonight's Mexican spiced chicken with chipotle mayonnaise sandwich on a baguette. See how linear that thought process was?!? From crepe to sandwich in mere seconds!
I sliced the chicken breasts into medallions and seasoned them with cumin, chili powder, garlic, salt, and pepper. I fried them in a splash of olive oil.
I made chipotle mayonnaise by adding a heaping teaspoon of adobo sauce (from a can of chipotles in adobo) to 1/4 cup of mayo.
I generously slathered the mayo on the baguette, added pequillo peppers, sliced avocado, the chicken, and jack and cheddar cheeses. Under the broiler it went to melt the cheese, and dinner was served.
The fries were frozen bagged fries. They were pretty good. No nasty ingredients.
I know dinner was good because halfway through the meal, I had to get up and wash my hands - the napkins just weren't enough.
It was worth it.
Chicken, Figs, and Rice Cakes
Tonight was a wild combination of flavors and textures. Creamy, cheesy rice cakes with a crunchy exterior, sweet figs atop corn meal and floured chicken, and buttery caramelized brussels sprouts. And another loaf of fresh-baked bread. Yep. this was a fun one!
The rice patties were something I was thinking of for a couple of days. Last night I had Victor save the leftover black rice because I had an idea for tonight. (Just so y'all know, we have an equal distribution of work in our home. If I cook, Victor cleans up. If Victor cooks, Victor cleans up. It's a great system!) But I digress...
Breaded Rice Cakes
- 1 cup cooked whole grain rice (brown, black, whatever)
- 1/2 cup uncooked white rice
- 1/2 cup uncooked wild rice
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups broth
- 4 oz creamy cheese
- bread crumbs
- salt and pepper
Cook onion in a pat of butter or olive oil until translucent. Add garlic and quickly saute. Add rices and 2 cups broth. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
Add remaining cup of broth, return to boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 15 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper, if desired.
Use a 1/4-cup ice cream scoop and scoop out portions and drop into bread crumbs. Form into cake, place on plate and repeat.
Brown in a hot pan with a splash of olive oil.
I used a Saint Vernier cheese that really was out of this world good.
The chicken was really simple. I mixed a bit of flour and corn meal together and coated the chicken and then browned it on both sides. Into the oven it went at 450° for about 10 minutes. (The oven was already hot from the bread.)
I happened upon some fresh figs last week, and although I have a general rule about buying fruit out of season, I picked up a few, anyway. What's a rule if you can't break it now and again?!? I made really simple caramelized figs.
Caramelized Figs
- 8 fresh figs
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- pinch cinnamon
- pinch cloves
Stem the figs and place them upright in a pot. Add sugar, vinegar, and spices and let sit over night. Next day, simmer over very low heat for about 4 hours, shaking pot now and again. This is where a burner diffuser really comes in handy. (Thank you, Ann and Julie!!!)
Place in a container and pour sauce over.
The brussels sprouts were just sliced in half and quickly steamed, and then sauteed with a splash of olive oil, salt, and pepper.
And we had more fresh bread.
Cooking in a Winter Wonderland
I was a serious cookin' machine today! Beautiful snow falling (but not really sticking) put me in the mood to bake.
In-between baking projects, though, I did cook dinner,as well. Victor saw a recipe in Parade Magazine of all places that looked intriguing. Chicken and Peppers in a balsamic vinegar sauce. We've done a lot of balsamic reductions, but this one sounded just different enough to give it a try. This one comes from Bobby Flay.
Chicken and Peppers in Vinegar Sauce
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 8 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large red bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, thinly sliced
- 1 large yellow bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tbsp clover honey
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken stock or broth
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1. Heat oil in a medium Dutch oven over high heat until it shimmers. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels; season with salt and pepper. Place chicken in the pan, in batches, top-side-down. Cook until golden brown, 4 minutes. Turn over, continue cooking 3 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate.
2. Add peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the vinegar and cook until reduced by half. Add honey and broth, season with salt and pepper, cook for 5 minutes. Return the chicken and accumulated juices to the pot. Reduce heat to medium, cover the pot, and cook until the chicken is tender, about 15 minutes. Remove the chicken to a platter. Cook sauce until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Stir in parsley and pour sauce over the chicken.
I served it with a whole grain mahogany rice blend. I made it with chunks of chicken breast because I didn't have any thighs in the freezer. It came out pretty good. I think I like Lidia's Pork Chops and Apples, better, though...
One thing I was definitely going to make today was an apple pie. And yes, I make my own pie crusts. They're just not that difficult to make and I can't find a decent pre-made crust that will fit a standard 10" deep-dish pie plate.
Food Processor Pie Crust
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 cup butter, cubed (I freeze it)
- pinch salt
- pinch sugar (if for sweet pie)
- 1/4 cup ice-cold water
Put flour, salt and sugar (if using) in food processor bowl. Pulse a second to blend.
Add cold or frozen butter pieces and pulse until well mixed.
Add water while mahine is running and pulse a few times to mix.
Dough will look very crumbly. Pinch together a small amount to see if it holds together. if it doies, you're set.
Form into two disks - one larger than the other - and let rest about 10 minutes.
Roll out on well-floured board.
It really is easy to do!
Apple Pie filling
- 5 large apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp allspice
- pinch salt
- 1/4 cup apricot brandy
Place all filling ingredients in large bowl and mix well.
Place filling into pastry-lined pie plate. Top with crust and crimp edges.
Bake at 400° about an hour.
It came out really good. It didn't even need ice cream!
The other thing I was obsessing about a bit today was Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread. I almost bought a loaf and then decided I could make one just as easy.
Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread
- 3 cups flour, more or less, divided
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 envelope active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 tablespoons softened butter
- 1 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
In a large mixing bowl combine 1 cup flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Beating at low speed, add the water and butter. Continue beating at high speed for 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup flour and beat 4 minutes longer. Stir in 1 1/2 cups flour, or enough to make a soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic, adding a little more flour as necessary.
Place dough in a large buttered bowl, turning to butter top. Cover with a clean towel and let rise for about 1 hour in a warm place, free of drafts.
Punch dough down; knead until smooth. Roll into a 12x9-inch rectangle.
Brsh with melted butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and then spread raisins evenly.
Starting with the narrow edge, roll up, turning ends under to make loaves to fit pans. Place rolls seam side down in greased loaf pans, 9x5x3-inches.
Cover pans with clean towel and let rise in warm place until double, about 45 minutes.
Bake loaves at 400° for 25 to 30 minutes, or until loaves sound hollow when tapped with fingers. Remove from pans to racks; brush with butter.
This was supposed to be for breakfast tomorrow. Needless to say, we didn't wait.
I could eat this every day.
As for the snow storm that was supposed to droip another 18" of snow? It hasn't quite hit yet.
Debbie's Chicken
Many moons ago, my sister-in-law Debbie made a great chicken dish. I don't recall where the original recipe came from, but it's a dish that was in our regular rotation for years. She even submitted the recipe for a Family Reunion Cook Book.
As I said, we made it often. And then, for whatever reason, it faded away.
Until tonight.
I've been thinking about it recently and, as luck would have it, we just happened to have all the right ingredients in the house!
It was every bit as good as I remembered it!
Chicken Zucchini Parmesan
- 1/4 C dried breadcrumbs
- 1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese
- 4 chicken breasts, boned and skinned
- 1 egg, beaten
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1-15 oz, can or jar marinara sauce
- 2 tbsp parsley
- 1/2 tsp garlic
- 1 lb. zucchini, sliced
- 8 oz. Monterey jack cheese, grated
Mix 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese with dried breadcrumbs. Dip chicken in egg, then into breadcrumbs and cheese. Heat oil; add chicken and brown on both sides. Set aside.
Place 1/2 of the marinara sauce in a pan. Top with zucchini, then chicken. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the jack cheese and 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese. Top with remaining sauce. Cover and bring to boil. Simmer 25 minutes until chicken and zucchini are tender.
Sprinkle with remaining jack cheese and Parmesan. Cover and let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.
My only changes were that I used homemade sauce, used mozzarella and provolone cheeses, and after putting it all together, put it into a 375° oven for about 30 minutes.
Thanks, Deb. It's back in the rotation!
Creamy Chicken and Mashed Potatoes
My Winter Variety Cooking Quotient is just about maxed. I seem to be continually drifting back to a creamed chicken something. Fortunately, I really like creamed chicken somethings - and tonight's version had the added bonus of emptying out the freezer of three different partial-bags of frozen vegetables. For the first time in months, I can see into every shelf-bin in there. Monday will be a fun shopping day.
It's still winter here outside of Valley Forge. There's still lots of snow on the ground. That means it's still creamed-chicken-something - or saucy-something - or baked-noodle-something - or fresh-baked-bread-and-soup-something time. I'm thinking how nice it would be to fire up the grill. A thick, juicy steak and tomatoes fresh from the garden. I'm ready to expand the repertoire again. Fresh vegetables grown locally - not grown 8,000 miles away and picked rock-hard and unripe. I'm ready.
In the meantime, tonight's creamy-chicken-something was similar to a pot pie filling topped with mashed potatoes, and baked in a 400° oven for about 20 minutes. Perfect comfort food and perfect for the weather.
The weather.
I think I need to pick up a bag of charcoal on Monday.....
Chicken Wings
Victor's had a hankerin' for chicken wings. Tonight, we had them!
He marinated the wings all day in peanut oil, lots of garlic, honey, sambal oelek, and salt & pepper. Into the oven.
We don't really eat a lot of chicken wings. A lot of chicken, yes. Wings? No. So this was a treat.
And we weren't all bad. We had roasted potatoes and roasted carrots along with it.
And then we had the last of the chocolate whiskey-peach upside-down cake for dessert.
We were a little bad.
Feed A Cold...
And boy, do I have a cold. Ugh. "Cold Remedies" do absolutely nothing for me. The cold is going to stay with me for two weeks no matter what. Things that do help alleviate the discomfort? Chicken soup, saline nasal rinse, and drinking plenty of fluids. And rest. And eating well, in general.
Especially the eating well in general part. Researchers really have given a medical imprimatur on chicken soup. It really does work. And while it may be more psychological than medical fact, I do feel better eating certain comfort foods. Smooth, creamy, softer textures are what I want. And tonight's dinner fit just that bill. And it made me feel better.
Floured and pan-fried chicken scallops with mushrooms over egg noodles with peas. Total simplicity. No weird, unpronounceable ingredients. Wholesome and made from scratch in 20 minutes. The older I get the more cantankerous I get over packaged and processed foods. And if my body is already trying to fight off a virus, the last thing I want to do is put processed and manufactured food-product-stuff into my body and screw up the fight. I want to give it ammunition, not hobble it.
With that in mind, I made dinner. For the chicken, I split a thick chicken breast in half, cut it into serving-sized pieces and pounded it thin. I then dredged it in a mixture of flour, paprika, poultry seasoning, turmeric, salt and pepper.
Into a hot skillet it went with a splash of olive oil.
After quickly browning it, I took it out and added a variety of mushrooms. I cooked them down, added some white wine, cooked it down, added some chicken broth, and then thickened it with a bit of corn starch. I put the chicken cutlets back in to heat through.
A healthy start-to-finish 20 minutes.
And in other news...
It's snowing outside! It's not supposed to really amount to much, but one can always hope!