This Little Piggy had Sauerkraut?

At the start of the week I asked both The Hub and Son3 for a little help planning the menus for the week. I really don't mind the actual cooking but I don't like the planning phase. This week the hub is recovering from 2 different bouts of illness and wanted something that had a strong taste but was not too spicy. He requested "something" and kraut. As usual, a google search " something and kraut recipes" gave me quite a few options, but the one I went with tonight was pork chops and sauerkraut. I have browned chops and baked them on a bed of kraut before but this time was looking for something a little more complex. The following recipe found at allrecipes.com sounded like it would be perfect.




Pork Chops and Sauerkraut

4 (3/4 inch thick) center cut pork chops
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 cup chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 can chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon caraway seed
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1 (16 ounce) can sauerkraut, drained
1 red apple, cored and chopped
4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

Directions

In a skillet, brown pork chops in oil; drain. Stir in onion, pepper, broth, caraway seed and celery seed. Cover and cook over medium heat for 45-50 minutes. Add sauerkraut and apple. Cover and simmer 10-15 minutes or until heated through. Before serving, sprinkle with bacon if desired.

This is the recipe as it was written but as usual it was not followed exactly. This afternoon The Pig had bone in pork sirloin steaks for $1.99 per pound vs. $4.99 for the center cut chops, so the sirloin won. They were a tad under 1/2 inch thick which shortened the total cooking time about 10 minutes. I had no red apples but did have a Granny Smith which I used. The red would've been much prettier. I also did not use the bacon, the tiny bit of bacon flavor was not worth the additional calories.

This will definitely become a staple in our fall/winter food rotation. ( Maybe it's just me but it felt like a cool weather food) Next time I will use the bagged kraut instead of canned (and use the entire bag). I will add a little more onion because of the additional kraut and will cut the apple into fourths and fish it out before serving. The apple gave the sauerkraut a tiny bit of sweetness, which was delicious but I did not like the chunks of apple mixed in it. Not surprising since I do not like cooked fruit at all. I also thought there was a little too much chicken broth. I would have preferred the kraut and onion mixture to be a little drier. And oh my, the flavor the onions, chicken broth and kraut were spectacular. Next time I will julienne the onions just for the mouth and eye appeal. The caraway and celery seeds were the bonus that tipped this from being just good to being really good.

I think this needs to be served with a bright side dish. The colors were very bland and uniform, and since we eat with our eyes first it needed a punch of color on the plate. I served cucumber rounds and half cherry tomatoes. I should have had a couple of broccoli stems also for some deep green color.

Live and learn!

A Souped Up Sweet Superfood

First let me tell you...I do not like sweet potatoes. I can and will eat them but they are never at the top of my food choice list, which is pretty bad since they are in the super food category. Recently I was eating at I Cantina and tried the sweet potato soup. I was surprised at how good it tasted, and decided to try and find a recipe I could make at home. The only thing I really wanted to change was to have the soup a little more savory and a bit less sweet. Searching through various websites led me to this version. Rather than the cinnamon and nutmeg flavors found in the I Cantina soup this one has a cumin base.

Since it was really cold yesterday and The Hub was a little under the weather it was the prefect time to try it. From start to finish it took a total of 30 minutes until we had steaming soup in our bowls.

Sweet Potato Chipotle Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium white onion, chopped
coarse salt & ground pepper
2 teaspoons ground cumin
4 medium sweet potatoes (2lbs total) peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 to 1 whole chipotle chili in adobo, chopped ( I used a couple of whole chilis. It was a tad too hot.)
7 cups of low sodium chicken broth


sour cream, for serving (I had none so we skipped it, but it might have lessened the heat of the extra chili)


In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium high heat. Add onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook until beginning to brown around the edges, about 7 mins. Add cumin & garlic and cook, stirring continually about 1 min. Stir in sweet potatoes, chile, and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until sweet potatoes can be mashed easily with a spoon, 20 to 25 mins.

Let soup cool slightly. Puree the soup. I don't have an immersion blender, so it had to be pureed in the blender in 2 batches. It would have been much easier to just use and immersion blender and puree it right in the cooking pot ( Adding immersion blender to the shopping list) Season with salt & pepper and serve. Top with sour cream or serve with tortilla chips . I had no tortilla chips so I used pita chips instead. They were perfectly fine.

This soup was so good. In fact the only changes next time will be 1 chipotle rather than 2 and about a cup more broth to thin it down a little more. I froze the leftover soup in individual serving sizes and am looking forward to several delicious lunches. This will become a staple in my homemade soup rotation.

Souper!!!!!!!

New Year/ New Challenges

Well just for the record if my math is not totally rusty I did not try 100 new and different recipes this year. "Why", you might ask and the answer would be a resounding and hearty " Dunno".

2011 was an odd year for us. We were out of town a lot more than usual, which is very good for fun and games; not so good for a cooking challenge. It is very hard to try something new and different in the kitchen while in Boston, or at a Broadway play, or standing in the snow on Mt. Hood ( in July ), or hanging out at the Marriott in Atlanta, or at the beach, or back in NYC. That is without mentioning the usual distractions of day to day living and the " I just don't feel like cooking " days. Add the dog days of summer "It's just too bloomin' hot to cook" and throw in a few " Oh no! we have to be (fill in the blank) in thirty minutes" and you have a typical life. You also can't forget that we eat out a LOT! Too much! Way too much!

So I begin the new year with new challenges. I don't feel like making resolutions this year (Though I I feel sure this is the year I could really keep the "look like a super model" one) but I just want to be a better me. Instead of resolutions I am offering myself a set of challenges. If I meet all of them wonderful and if I don't, well, at least I will be better just for trying.

First and foremost in this blog is the recipe challenge. Instead of trying to hit a specific number of recipes, maybe it would be better to try specific types of recipes monthly. This time around each month will have recipes from 5 very specific categories and a 6th recipe that is just an at large personal preference pick.
1. Vegetarian Main Dish
2. Soup
3 Baked Good
4.Crock Pot Item
5.Protein ( New and different ways to grill perhaps?)
6. Mystery Item ( Something like the Publix penny item only better)

This should be 72 new recipes and that should be easier to do, especially since they are categorized. It will make it idiot proof and I need all the idiot proofing I can get.

If I were a true professional, I would have some sort of fabulous recipe for today, but that is just not going to happen cause I am truly Southern and if one is truly Southern the meal is mandated by generations before me: Blackeyed Peas, Turnip Greens, Ham and Rice. I don't know where it started but it is supposed to bring luck and fortune and all things good. So far my life has been much better than I deserve, so I see no reason to tempt Fate. Besides, we really like the meal!

So have a very happy 2012 and I will try my best to have something new and hopefully delicious.

After all this holiday over indulging I have a sneaking suspicion i will start with something meatless!

Later

What I've Been Doing Instead of Writing about Cooking

First and foremost, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas day and is continuing to enjoy the holidays. I know we had a great, but subdued day. I remember when the kids were younger and we still had two families to see each Christmas, and how I wished we were a little less stressed on Christmas day. Several years later when the older sons were grown and living across the country, and experiencing some family member's deaths, I found what slowing down on Christmas day was like. To be honest I would give anything if everyone were with us and we could still be in a state of Christmas chaos. I guess the old axiom about being careful what you wish for is true. This year my family came over for brunch as they usually do, and we were able to Skype with Son1 while eating. It was nice but still nothing like everyone being there early then having to hurry up to move to the next event.


I would love to tell you all the new things I tried for brunch, but I mostly keep the traditional tried and true recipes we have loved for years. I got a new toy right around Thanksgiving and couldn't wait to play with it Christmas Eve. It was a new crock pot. It really is 3 crockpots in one. It is a long base with spots for 3 different crocks, each with its own control . This year I planned a traditional breakfast casserole, cheese grits souffle, broccoli dip over cornbread, ham and assorted goodies. The grits souffle and the casserole were all prepared before we went to sleep and we woke to the most delicious smells coming from the kitchen. The casserole was perfect and all I had to do to it was turn the control to warm to keep it at serving temperature. The cheese grits souffle was another story. I stuck a spoon in to stir it up and found the grits had all sunk to the bottom into a type of corn cement, while the eggs and milk had cooked into some sort of congealed mess that looked like it might have been used for a sci-fi film's alien guts. Meanwhile all the butter had migrated out of the crock and was living underneath it in the well containing the sealed ( thank heavens) heating element. Fortunately I had plenty of grits and after scrubbing out the pot and sopping out the melted butter, I still had time to remake the grits souffle in the conventional oven. I did cook it in the crock so it was able to go straight from the oven to the heating element where it stayed piping hot until mealtime. The one and only new recipe I tried was the broccoli cheese dip.

Broccoli Cheese Dip

2 1/2 pound bricks of velvet. One plain and one mexican flavored
1 pack chopped frozen broccoli
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon hot sauce ( adjust to personal level of heat. we need more but some need less)
garlic salt to taste
1 teaspoon Worcestershire ( I omitted this because it sometimes overpowers the other flavors and I wanted cheese and broccoli to be the dominant flavors.

Put everything in a crackpot on high heat for about 1 hour. Stir and reduce heat to low for 2 more hours. Serve with toast points, over cornbread or with Frito scoops.


It was all very good but nothing new. One of the goodies I cook each Christmas was a bigger hit than it normally is, and I have no idea why because it is on the dessert tray each year.

Praline Fudge

Butter a 9x9 square pan and set aside

1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons dark corn syrup
1 cup evaporated milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cup pecan pieces

In large pot combine sugars, syrup and evaporated milk. Cook on medium until it reaches a soft ball (235ish degrees on a candy thermometer). Cool 10 minutes then add vanilla and butter. Beat for 2 minutes then add pecans. Continue beating until mixture loses its gloss. Pour into the prepared pan and score the top of the candy into pieces about 3/4 square. Let cool then continue cutting the candy into individual pieces. This stuff is rich but delicious. Store in an airtight container and it will keep for several days.


I would love to pretend like I had just tried this but I have been making it for 20 years. If you put it in a pretty box it makes a dandy food gift. There are no pictures of the praline fudge because like I said, it was a popular food item this year and disappeared before I thought to take a picture.


I really have tried some new and different things lately but I just got caught up in the holiday prep and didn't write about any of it. I have a few pictures I took along the way which I will post along with the inspiration for the dish along with reactions about them.

One night, I needed supper to be ready to eat in about 15 minutes and needed everything in the recipe to be on hand. Sometimes I get really technical when I google recipes and type in something like delicious quick chicken recipe. Most of the time the first recipes call for cream of something soup and I totally ignore those and look on to something else. This time I found a recipe that not only looked fast, but actually seemed to be a seasonally appropriate dish.

Cranberry Chicken Skillet Supper from Canadian Living

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts)
1 pinch salt
1 pinch pepper
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 onion, sliced
1-1/2 cups cubed peeled squashes or sweet potatoes
1 tsp crumbled dried sage
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Mix the salt and pepper into the flour and lightly flour the chicken breasts. Saute' in the vegetable oil until browned. Remove and add the onion and squash pieces and cook till slightly wilted. Add the chicken broth to the vegetables and cook till about midway done and return the chicken breasts to the pan. Add the sage and put the lid on the pan and steam until the chicken and veggies are tender and cooked through. Remove the lid and add the vinegar, dijon mustard and cranberries and cook until the berries are plump. Serve immediately.

What I did differently.

I used chicken tenderloin pieces rather than whole breasts and used 7 tenderloins for all of us. If I am going to simmer in liquid, I never coat with flour first, but that is just a personal preference. Saute the raw chicken in the pan until it is lightly brown on one side, flip and cook to the same light brown on the other side. Remove and saute the onions ( though I used shallots cause I had 2 that were about to ruin). Toss in the sage and I also added a few shakes of savory to the pan, then add the chicken broth and the chicken along with the vinegar. I had no craisins but I did have fresh cranberries in the fridge so I used 1/4 cup ( I probably should have used slightly less then 1/4 cup) and let them cook until they popped. Since I had no sweet potatoes or winter squash I booted that. When the berries were soft I added the dijon and served with a side of garlic mashed potatoes, cooked carrots and asparagus. Everyone loved it, but by using the fresh berries the sauce was pinker than it would have been with dried fruit. It was a big enough hit that Son3 asked if we could have it again. I call that successful!


Sometime before Christmas TheHub came home from work with a 5 pound bag of raw peanuts. I thought of making peanut brittle but just didn't want to go to the effort of cooking it, but I had to do something with those nuts. I quickly googled recipes using raw peanuts and of course most were for varied kinds of brittle. I kept looking and found a quick and simple recipe for spiced peanuts.

Glazed Spiced Peanuts

I cup raw peanuts
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
salt to taste

In a nonstick pan toast the peanuts for 3 or 4 minutes until parched but not burned ( through trial and error there is a fine line between the two).

Put the peanuts in a small bowl or pot ( DO NOT USE PLASTIC...another trial and error)

In the same hot pan add the sugar and stirring constantly over a medium high heat melt the sugar and let it come to a light caramel. Stir in the spices and salt , then pour over the peanuts. ( See now why plastic is a bad idea?) Stir like mad to coat the entire cup of peanuts and pour on a plate to cool. Break into small bits when completely cool. These things disappeared about as quickly as I could make them. I think I have made 5 batches now including one that I made just sugared with light salt and no spice.

There are a couple of other things I made recently but it has gotten late and I am tired so I am going to have to wait till tomorrow to write about them. Plus! Did I mention I got a waffle iron for Christmas? I found a recipe for ham and cheese waffles and I have a boatload of leftover ham!

Till tomorrow, maybe?

And I really have tried new things!!!!!!!!

Wow!!! Where does the time go? I have tried several new, untried before recipes lately but have been a little busy and just have not taken the time to sit and write about them. I would offer a boatload of excuses but everyone knows what Thanksgiving weekend means right? For most people it means a weekend of reflection and Thanksgiving accompanied by some family time and possibly the beginning of the Christmas season. This year TheHub and I had a very different Thanksgiving weekend. Son3 was in New York and Philly with his high school band, which left TheHub and I unencumbered and free spirits. We had decided to go to the beach and have a very non traditional Thanksgiving week. Unfortunately TheHub had to work through Wednesday and then go in early Friday morning until about lunch. We were going to have to be home by midnight Friday anyway and there was no point in driving to Florida for just one measly day so we decided to stay home.


We did have options for celebrating Thanksgiving, but decided we really wanted to stay home and clean out the basement closet. We have been piling junk in it for over 3 years and have taken nothing out of it. We were Thankful for a day to purge. And trust me when I say it took most of the day to clear it out. This week I should make Goodwill very happy. We talked about going out to eat but neither wanted to quit and get gussied up for lunch so we ultimately chose to cook a light Thanksgiving lunch ( There is no "we" in cooking however. The " we" in kitchen "we" is always me. Well, other than the eating part and then we both do it.)

For Thanksgiving I cooked Rachel Ray's Herb Roasted Turkey and Pan Gravy. I had seen it on the Food Channel and searched for it online.












Eureka! I found it.




Ingredients
1 small (golf-ball sized) onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 lemon, scrubbed clean
12 fresh sage leaves
Large handful fresh flat-leaf parsley (about 1/2 cup, from 12 stems)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for oiling pan
1 teaspoon salt, plus more as needed
6 fresh bay leaves
4 tablespoons butter
2 boneless turkey breast halves, skin on (about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds each)
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup apple or regular brandy (recommended: Calvados)
2 to 3 cups apple cider
Salt and pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Oil a roasting pan and set it aside.

Put the onion into the bowl of a mini food processor. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the zest from the lemon in thin strips, being careful not to cut into the bitter white pith. Add the lemon zest to the food processor and reserve the whole lemon for another use. Chop the onion and lemon zest until fine. Add the sage, parsley, olive oil, and 1 teaspoon salt and pulse until it forms a coarse paste.

Put 2 of the bay leaves and the butter into a small pan and heat over medium-low heat until the butter is bubbling. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Put the turkey breasts on a work surface. Carefully run your fingers between the skin and the flesh from 1 end, being careful not to pull it completely off, creating a pocket. Season the turkey breasts generously with salt and pepper. Stuff half of the herb paste under the skin of each breast, and spread it evenly under the skin. Transfer the breasts to the roasting pan, and slide 2 bay leaves underneath each one. (The heat of the pan will release the bay leaf oils and flavor the breast.) Using a pastry brush, baste the breasts with half of the bay butter. Place the turkey in the oven and immediately decrease the temperature to 400 degrees F. After 20 minutes, baste the turkey breasts with the remaining butter, and roast for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, until cooked through, and a thermometer placed in the thickest part of the breast registers 170 degrees F.

Remove from the oven, transfer to a platter, cover, and let rest for 10 minutes before carving while you make the gravy.

Put the roasting pan over the burner on medium heat. Sprinkle the flour over the pan juices, and cook, stirring, for a few minutes. Add the apple brandy, and scrape the pan to lift the bits that are stuck to the bottom. Cook for a minute to burn off the alcohol, then, while stirring, pour in the apple cider. Bring to a simmer, and stir until thickened. Season with salt and pepper.

Slice the turkey breast on the diagonal, and serve with warm gravy.


I cooked this more or less as the recipes suggested, but altered the seasonings a little. Since I had a turkey breast in the fridge but had no fresh parsley or fresh bay leaves I used dried. I also used a little dried savory and thyme in the herb blend to shove under the birds skin. I did not use butter at all but infused olive oil with the bay leaves and it worked quite well for basting the breast.

Instead of just using the bay leaves to flavor the underside of the bird I put 2 stalks of dried lemon grass, bay leaves and 1 chopped up Granny Smith apple in the breast cavity and just roasted it, basting with the bay leaf infused olive oil.

It was without a doubt the best turkey I have ever cooked. Moist and flavorful! I will do this again and again. As for the gravy part, we I punted on that. I had a jar of turkey gravy in the pantry and convenience trumped flavor!. Hey! it was just a topping for mashed potatoes and it was only for the two of us. It was perfectly fine and was not worth my time worrying about making real gravy. I might do it next year, but then again I might use jarred gravy as well!

Since there were just the two of us for dessert also I tried a new take on an old favorite. This year I made pecan pie in canning jars. Using clean ( supposedly sterile, but I washed mine in the dishwasher) jars, put a large walnut size ball of pastry dough ( Your favorite recipe. Mine is Pillsbury prepared pie dough ) in each of 8 jars. With fingers or a dough tamper ( I only thought to get the dough tamper out of the drawer after the 4th jar and wow, did it ever make things go faster) press the dough to cover the bottom and 3/4 up the inside of the jar. Prepare the following filling.

1/2 cup real butter, melted,
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
2 eggs, a pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup of toasted pecans.

Mix all but the pecans until thoroughly blended then add the pecans. Stir well to incorporate and then fill the 8 mason jars equally. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling is set. I would give you a specific time but I think you just have to watch and keep checking. The recipe I used called for 30-45 minutes in a 350 degree oven. My stove took about 40 minutes.
THE OBJECT OF MAKING THEM LIKE THIS WAS TO HAVE ONE EACH FOR DESSERT AND THEN FREEZE THE REMAINING.

TheHub suggested I wait a day before freezing and I found out why. For 2 days he would sneak in the kitchen and come out with a little jar of pie. Now it is Sunday and we are down to one pie left. This is probably the best idea I have ever seen and the next time I make them I am going to freeze most before I tell anyone ( TheHub) I even have any. I think I am going to make some apple pies and pumpkin pies this week and have them sitting in the freezer waiting for a quick thaw and rewarm. I think it will be a good thing to have on hand for any impromptu Holiday meals.



The 3rd and final recipe I tried during the long weekend is from the cookbook that started my love of cooking. I do not ever remember not loving to be in the kitchen, in fact my parents have a picture of me at 2 stirring a pot in the kitchen. When I was in the 3rd or 4th grade my Beloved Sister and I got a cookbook as a together Christmas gift: Betty Crocker's Cookbook for Boy's and Girls. I would look at the recipes and salivate wanting to try them, and we really did try a good many of them. Especially the Jolly Breakfast Ring, which became a favorite. As I got older I cooked from my mom's adult cookbooks and then my own, My Beloved Sister took possession of the Betty Crocker book and I had not really thought of it until Son3 was in about the 4th grade. My childhood cookbook was reissued in it's original form, so of course i bought it for him ( At least I pretended it was for him) I still love reading it and seeing the things I used to make and getting to try some of those I never tried before. All my childhood I wanted to try this recipe but my mother would never let me ( Probably because it did not sound good to her), So finally for the first time umpteen years later I go to try ( Drumroll Please!!!!!)

Toasted Cheese-Bacon Sandwiches

4 slices toasted bread
8 slices cooked bacon
1 egg slightly beaten
3/4 cup grated cheese
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Mix the egg, cheese, paprika, and worcestershire sauce in a small bowl. Spread on the top of each slice of toasted bread and broil until the cheese is completely melted. Top each with 2 bacon slices and run under the broiler for about 1/2 minute. Serve hot and toasty.


Ok truthfully this sounded much better when I was a kid than it tasted. The worcestershire competed with the cheese flavor and changed the color a little. I thought the paprika neither added to nor subtracted from it. I will try this again but will make the following adjustments: Each sandwich needs 1/2 cup of cheese. The egg needs to be beaten until it is very fluffy and then mixed with the cheese. It would taste better to have a couple cheeses instead of just one type. Cheddar and Assiago maybe? Also when I make these again I will use some of the really delicious thick cut applewood smoked bacon ( like Nueske's).

I will omit the worcestershire and the paprika but will sprinkle some minced jalapeno before the cheese is broiled.
I had a picture of this but my phone auto-updated and I lost the image. Just imagine if you will cheese toast with 2 slices of bacon on it. That is pretty much what it looked like.

Since I am in a rush to finish out the remaining recipes I am going to be in a new recipe cooking flurry. Fortunately there are several things I want to try that can be prepared as small lunch portions. Whew! I thought I was going to have to cook supper every night this month!

Chicken again???

Son3 was going to be late tonight and The Hub was planning on getting home around 6ish but wanted to have a little time for a light workout before dinner. I had taken some chicken out of the freezer earlier in the day, so I was bound to chicken but wanted something that we had never had before. I realized how far behind the challenge I am and I also knew I might not make it unless I really knuckle down and start actually cooking every day. ( I do foresee a day in December when I try 10 new and different cookie recipes just to try and finish this quest.) Tonight was a simple task though. I looked through google doing one of my more refined searches like "chicken breast recipes". As luck would have it, the first click took me to an interesting enough looking picture, and it only required a couple of ingredients I didn't have on hand. I planned on making a quick trip to The Pig because it is a smaller store and is usually very quick to hit and run. Except for tonight! Today is the start of The Pig tent sale. To get into the store you have to wander through a maze of "deals". 45 minutes and 60 dollars later I came out of the store with the pesto, mushrooms and about 5 other bags of groceries So much for the run in and out thing!

I didn't get home until about 6:30. In fact The Hub was at the end of his workout by the time I unloaded everything, so I was very happy I had decided to have a quick cooking meal. As I was putting the food away I started a pot of water for pasta, then started pounding the chicken. Does anyone really use the 2 sheets of plastic or do you do like I do and stick a chicken breast in a freezer bag to pound? By the time I had the chicken flat and the mushrooms sliced, the water was boiling so I tossed the noodles in the water. While they cooked I got the chicken started, tore some lettuce and sliced a tomato. A few stirs and a very brief simmer and dinner was done in about 12 minutes.

Chicken in Pesto Cream
4 to 6 Chicken breast halves
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons flour
4 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons prepared pesto
1/2 cup heavy cream
Preparation:

Wash chicken and pat dry. Put the chicken breasts between sheets of plastic wrap and gently pound to about 1/4 inch thickness. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and dredge lightly with the flour. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Saute chicken and mushrooms for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring mushrooms and turning chicken about halfway through the cooking time. until browned. Combine cream and pesto; cover and continue cooking over low heat for 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Serve with hot cooked rice or pasta.
Serves 4 to 6.

This was one of the easiest dishes I have done in a long time. I am grateful to companies who make pesto for people like me to buy. I have a basil plant that is nearly as high as my waist and still has a good many leaves. If I had planned a little better I would have made my own. ( Oh, who am I kidding?)

I did not flour the breasts prior to cooking because I didn't want the taste of fried flour on mine. Instead I warmed the pan and then put the olive oil in it. I brought it to a fairly high temp and just browned the naked chicken breasts in it, salting and peppering when I turned them over to brown on the other side. Other than that I followed the recipe as given.

We each had 1 breast half, noodles and the simple salad. It was a very nice meal that was not too heavy in spite of all the cream. I only served the sauce that was on the chicken and did not spoon the remaining sauce over the noodles, just to save a little fat and calories.

The verdict was that it was good and something I will do again, but not too often. I thought the basil flavor was not as developed as it should have been. I should have sprinkled minced fresh basil over the top of the dish for eye appeal and for taste. Next time I will.

Tomorrow Son3 has a jazz concert and we will have a late dinner again. I think I need to look through the crock pot cookbook and see If I can become inspired. Or we can always do take out!

Pinterest You Win Again

Now that November is here and I realize I am not even halfway to my goal of trying new recipes, I figure I have to be doing some serious cooking. Except serious cooking requires planning and shopping and actually thinking about what you are going to cook more than 20 minutes before supper time. It is a trait I do not possess, so now I am going to have to force myself to think in advance. ( Since most of our meals are on the fly we tend to have very simple fare most of the time. I am not one of those cooks who worries about the number of ingredients, but I do like things that use few pots and utensils. I guess that is why I am so reluctant to think ahead. I can throw something on the grill, toss a salad and heat up some bread and everyone is satisfied and clean up is minimal. Measuring and mixing and blending and all the steps most recipes require means extra washing and added mess. I am not a fan.) I guess I have to get over the K.I.S.S. attitude and get with the program or surrender.

Tonight I tried a recipe which uses a recipe found on Pinterest. The original recipe I pinned is Cafe Rio Dressing. I am unsure exactly what Cafe Rio is ( assuming it is some sort of Tex/Mex joint in Utah) but it has a large and vocal fan base. I thought the dressing sounded tasty so I made it and The Hub and I used it on a couple of those tossed salads I mentioned earlier. It is a delicious take on the basic ranch dressing.

Cafe Rio Dressing

2 cups prepared ranch dressing, bottled or homemade ( I cheated and did the semi homemade Hidden Valley buttermilk dry mix)
1 small bunch cilantro, large stems removed (about 1/2 cup chopped cilantro)
2 large or 4 small tomatillos
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
2 T fresh lime juice
1 tsp. Green Tabasco sauce or 1 diced jalapeno pepper

Prepare Ranch dressing according to directions on the package or recipe you're following and set aside.

Remove large cilantro stems, then wash leaves and spin dry or dry with paper towels. Add cilantro to food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse until finely chopped. (If you don't have a food processor, I'd chop all ingredients well by hand and then blend dressing in a blender.) I used the blender and it worked well. The dressing is just a creamy smooth concoction of good eating!

Add tomatillos, garlic, lime juice, and Green Tabasco or chopped jalapeno to the food processor and pulse until ingredients are finely pureed. Add the 2 cups of prepared dressing and pulse just a few times, until ingredients are well combined. Chill dressing for an hour or two and serve.

I followed this recipe to the letter, using 4 small tomatillos and the diced jalapeno. After it sat overnight, we had some on a very basic salad of lettuce, cukes and tomatoes. It was delicious. The tomatillo and lime add a nice acid kick to the ranch. It brightens up the flavor to a whole new level. I admit to being a cilantro lover, so, for me the flavor was perfect and including the jalapeno added just enough heat that Son3 who does not like things hot pronounced it delicious with a kick. If he were not eating with us, I would probably add a half pepper more.

The link to the webpage with the dressing recipe also had something called Cafe Rio Chicken and Cafe Rio Rice, both of which combine with the dressing on a plate to create one of the house dished at Cafe Ri

Cafe Rio Chicken

1 small bottle Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing
1 T chili powder
1 T cumin
3 cloves garlic—minced
5 lbs chicken breast

Cook all together in a crock pot for 4 hours, shred meat and cook 1 additional hour.

Ok I admit I did not look at this in time to serve it as suggested. In fact I had my usual 20-30 minutes from start to finish to get this on the table, so it was punt time. I poured a little of the Italian dressing ( for the record I never ever use Kraft but did have some Ken's on hand) In an enamel Dutch oven ( high heat) and plopped 4 chicken breasts in it. While the bottom was searing I sprinkled the chili powder, cumin, minced garlic and 2 teaspoons of ground dried cilantro on the chicken. When the bottom was browned I turned the breasts over and let them sear more on the other side, then added the remainder of the dressing ( about 1/2 bottle for the 4 breasts). Put the lid on and turned the heat down to med/low. It popped and sizzled for about 20 minutes. (Until the rice was ready) Since it did not have the advantage of slow cooking, we ate it as a whole piece of chicken.

The taste was very good and the chicken was surprisingly moist. I will do it again and soon, but will make sure to put it in the crock pot for that super long cook time.


Café Rio Rice

This recipe is for the entire 5 lbs. of chicken breasts. I used considerably less for the 4 we had for supper

3 c water
4 t chicken bouillon
4 t garlic –minced
½ bunch cilantro
1 can green chiles—or equivalent fresh
¾ t salt
1 T butter
½ onion
3 c MInute Rice ( I used brown Minute Rice

Blend cilantro, green chiles and onion together in food processor. Bring water to a boil and add all ingredients, simmer covered 30 minutes.
Call me a slacker if you must, but the only thing I did to the rice was to cook it in 3 cups of chicken broth rather than water. Why? Though I had everything sitting out on the counter, I forgot to add them. Even if had remembered I was not going to blend them all together. I planned to just mince it finely. What can I say? We ate rice cooked in chicken broth. It tasted like chickeny rice.


To form the dish you should have a toasted tortilla per person. I had tortillas but I did not want to open the pack for just 3 tortillas so we left that off. Put the tortilla on a plate and put the rice overlapping 1/3 of the tortilla. Top the rice with 1/2 cup of black beans. ( Punt again- no black beans so kidney were substituted.) Place the chicken on the next third and finish the tortilla circle with chopped lettuce. Drizzle the Cafe Rio Dressing over each component and serve immediately.

Son3 pronounced it one of the best chicken meals he has had in a long time and we all agreed this dish will become a standard in our meal rotation. Like I said earlier I will cook it a long time so the flavors can meld, but it was delicious as it was. I can only imagine the flavors slow cooking will bring. I look forward to it.

I guess I also look forward to the mega cooking I am going to do, but I don't know when I can start. Son2 is coming to town tomorrow for a whirlwind football game visit (Roll Tide!) so we will be eating out this weekend and next week we leave for a trip to NYC. I should download some cookbooks to the Kindle and read them on the plane. I might be inspired!

p.s. Anyone have suggestions for a delicious NYC meal?