Italian Chicken

Okay this isn’t fancy or exciting folks, but it was good. My mother-in-law got Joel and I some Omaha Steak things for Christmas. In there was chicken. I wanted to keep it simple and see if these really were any different than plain Jane store chicken.

4 4oz chicken breasts
6 tbs of parmesan (I use Locatelli)
2 tbs Italian seasoning
1 tsp salt
1 clove of garlic
1 tbs olive oil

Mix parmesan, Italian seasoning, a nd salt together. Set aside
Heat oil in a skillet and add garlic and turn heat up to medium high.
Dredge chicken in the cheese-herb mixture and lay in pan with oil and garlic.
Cook each side for 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium low.
Cook each side for an additional 4 minutes.
Remove from heat and let set for about 5 minutes.
Serve.

I do have to say, these were particularly good chicken breast, nice and juicy and supple. Worth the price…not so much. We had this with just plan old frozen spinach that I cooked in some oil (about 1 tsp) and a clove of garlic. I added about ½ cup of chickpeas to 2 cups of spinach, and 2 tbs of Greek yogurt, a pinch of crushed red pepper and salt….good. My husband asked for a repeat performance tonight with our salmon.

Pork Loin with Apple Stuffing

This dish was made in honor of the arrival of one Ms. Verity Grace. Our neighbors (and good friends) had their very first wee one and she is just lovely. I decided to help by stocking the fridge and freezer with a bit of food.



3-5 lb pork loin

Stuffing

2 TBS oil
¼ c. onion
2 celery stalks
1 large tart apple (I used granny smith)
1 c. of raisins
½ tsp salt
2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 clove of garlic crushed
Pepper
1 cup of stock
6 pieces of whole wheat bread
1 egg

Sauce
½ c. maple syrup
6 tbs Dijon mustard
2tbs soy sauce

Heat oven to 400.

For the sauce combine all ingredients, mix until well blended and set aside.

For the stuffing, heat the oil and add celery, apple and onion and sauté for 5 minutes until soft.
Add raisins, salt, poultry seasoning, garlic, pepper and stock and bring to a boil.
Break bread into pieces and add to mixture until all the stock is absorbed (you may need a piece or two more or less. Add a piece at a time until you all liquid is absorbed but it is not dry). The bread should be mushy.
Take the stuffing off the heat and let cool.
Filet open the pork tenderloin. Salt and pepper it.

Once the stuffing has cooled a bit, add the egg. Lay the stuffing in the middle and roll. Secure with butcher string (I found out after I started I did NOT have butcher string so I had to toothpick it with this.)

Put the loin in a roasting pan and cover with roughly 1/3 of the sauce. Put in the oven and bake covered for 15 minutes.

Reduce heat to 350 and add another 1/3 of the sauce to the meat, recover and bake another 20 minutes.
Add the final 1/3 uncover the meat and bake another 15-20 until done.
Let meat set 10-15 minutes before cutting into.

Lamb and Goat Cheese Eggplant Rollatini

Filling

1 tbs olive oil
1 onion diced
6 oz of mushrooms chopped
1 large clove of garlic grated
2 tbs oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp salt
2 tbs dry vermouth
1/8 tsp Penzeys lamb seasoning (optional)
¼ lb soft goats cheese
1 lb ground lamb

Eggplant

1 large eggplant slice thin
Salt
Cooking spray

Sauce

1 c. chicken stock
12 oz Greek yogurt (or sour cream)
1 tsp oregano
1tsp thyme
½ tsp salt
2 tbs goat cheese
Any leftover meat filling

Honestly when I made this my intention was to use ground veal. If I could not get that, I would use ground pork. Sadly 2 supermarkets and 1 butcher later, only to be told finally that there was some odd shortage of both??? I settled on lamb. I also borrowed my parents meat slicer for the eggplant so I could get even and thin slices (a surgeon, I was never destined to be).

I started by slicing the eggplant longwise, then I salted it and let it sit.

In a skillet heat your oil to medium and add onion. Cook for about 3 minutes.

Add the mushrooms, garlic, thyme, oregano, salt and vermouth. Let cook for about 5 minutes.



Add the lamb and cook until done. Suck off (there has got to be a better way to say that… is drain correct??) the excess grease.


Add the goats cheese and stir to incorporate, set aside.




While the meat mixture was cooking I took another skillet and coated it with cooking spray and cooked the sliced eggplant for about a minute on each side. I removed and set aside.

Once the eggplant and the meat mixture is done, I took about 2 tsp of the mixture and put it at one end of the slice of eggplant and rolled it up. I put it in a baking dish. Roll until you are out of eggplant or out of meat.




In a skillet I added the chicken stock, yogurt, seasoning, goat cheese and leftover meat filling (if you have) and heated to let thicken a bit (about 3-5 minutes). Once thickened, remove from heat and pour over rollatini. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Tuna and Fennel with a Lemon Dill Aioli and an Embarrassing Story

Every once in a while we all have to chuckle at ourselves. Hopefully that chuckle can be followed with a bit of relief at how far we have come. I used to not like sushi. I think in retrospect, the first several trys I had at it, just also turned out to be bad sushi. When we went to dinner with friends, who unwittingly, ordered a ton of sushi for us to share…I had little choice but to eat it. I waited anxiously for the sushi to come, not knowing how I would make my way through (the last sushi I had had, I couldn’t force myself to swallow…literally). Luckily for me (and several sushi restaurants near me), it turns out I love sushi if is good and now there is not a week that goes by I don’t indulge in some.

Prior to realizing raw fish could be good ,I went out to eat with a young chap I would later marry. He took me to a lovely restaurant in his town. We each got a salad and decided to split an entrée. It was a thia tuna dish. The waitress brings it out and we dig into the tuna, and it was rare!! Egad. We immediately called the waitress over and explained the obvious issue. God love her, with out bursting out laughing, she carried that beautiful piece of tuna back to the chef and had that man cook it within an inch of its life. Honestly, I just simply did not know you could eat tuna rare. I still like mine medium rare and not full on rare, but now a well done tuna steak, in my mind is ruined. It is dry and heavy. So to that chef and that piece of tuna who sadly gave its life to have me desecrate it… my humblest apologies. I hope this recipe offers some solace.

Fennel topping
1 fennel bulb sliced (tops removed)
½ large Vidalia sliced
1 tbs olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Fish
4 tuna steaks
1 tbs olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
lemon

Aioli
2 tsp mustard
1 tbs lemon juice
2 tsp dill
1 tsp caper

Make the aioli, by combining mustard, lemon juice, dill and capers. Mix well and set aside.

In skillet heat 1 tablespoon of oil to medium high. Add fennel and onion and sauté for 1 minute reduce heat to medium low and sauté for another 10 minutes until nice and brown.



Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in skillet over high heat. Add tuna and sear for 30 second on each side. Reduce heat to medium. I personally like my tuna medium rare, so I cooked it and additional 2 minutes on one side and 1 minute on the other and let it rest, but it was a pretty thick steak. Unless you like it very well done, it is always better to pull it off early and put it back if need be than overcook it. Once you pull fish off squeeze lemon over.

Top tuna with a heaping spoon of fennel and onion and then top with a healthy spoonful of aioli.

Salmon Wrap

This weekend we went to a party and someone brought these amazing pork lettuce wraps. That is what inspired this dish.

½ lb salmon
4 Savoy cabbage leaves
2 tbs lime juice
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
Salt and pepper
¼ tsp fresh grated ginger
1tsp corn starch
4 tbs cilantro leaves
4 tsp chopped spring onion

In pan put, lime juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger and corn starch and wisk. Heat over medium low heat until thickened. Set aside and allow to cool.
Remove and clean cabbage leaves
Cut salmon into 4 equal pieces.
Salt and pepper salmon, and place in the center of cabbage leaf.
Spread a heavy teaspoon of the sauce onto the salmon. Sprinkle with teaspoon of onion and a tablespoon of cilantro, roll and place in steamer basket. Repeat for all four rolls.
Steam for 10-12 minutes.


I served this with a Asian inspired coleslaw. I used the remaining Savoy, 2 cups of carrots and put it in the food processor. I put in a bunch of spring onions, chopped (about 5) and a bunch of cilantro chopped, I mixed it all together and put a dressing of:

2 TBS lime juice
3 TBS soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
½ tsp fresh grated ginger
2 TBS white vinegar (Asian would have been better)
4 TBS sugar
Zest of ½ of a lime

Mix together, pour over and let sit.

Mushroom Chicken

2 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
1 onion sliced
3 large chicken breast bone in skin on (3.5 lb)
4 tbs of flour
4 c. chicken broth
2 c. of quartered mushrooms
1 c. dry white wine
2 tbs marjoram
1 Turkish bay leaf
½ c Greek yogurt or sour cream

I could not have been more pleased with the way this came out. It was creamy and earthy and wonderful (if I do say so myself!) I, have a love affair with Greek yogurt. It allows me to have all the yummy goodness of sour cream with ¼ of the fat and calories. My husband, who I can’t get to eat anything that is adjacent to light and healthy loves it and told me I could stop buying sour cream. For those of you that hate mushrooms (and I know you odd things are out there) you could omit them and substitute peppers or potatoes. I used bone in/skin on chicken. I think keeping the skin on made this a very rich and wonderful dish, but I think you could easily (and I did) take the skin off the chicken and eat the meat without it, I just recommend cooking with it.

Add butter and olive oil to stock pot or Dutch-oven and melt butter.
Add the onion and sauté over medium heat for about 10 minutes.
Salt and pepper chicken (I also used a little onion salt) and lay on bottom of pot.
Sprinkle with 4 tbs of flour then add 4 cup of chicken broth and bring to a boil.
Once boiling reduce to simmer and simmer for 20 minutes. Add 1 cup of dry white wine, mushrooms, bay leaf and 2 tablespoons of marjoram and simmer for 40 minutes.
Take about ½-1 cup of hot liquid and add to your yogurt or sour cream, stir, and then put the mixture back into the pot. Doing this keeps the milk from curdling.
Heat for 5 more minutes and serve.

For those of you doing weight watchers this would be about 9 points per breast the best I can tell (they don’t give you a raw, bone in skin on choice??) . I served this with mashed potatoes that I put skim milk and about 3 tbs of greek yogurt in and it was great and about 1.5 per ½ c. serving.

Pork Taco’s and Lentil Soup

This ends up being 2 meals. Half the pork tenderloin is used for the pork tacos and half is used for the lentils. The lentils form almost like a chili, it is a very hearty bean soup. Also note, I used the tenderloin, not a loin roast. I think that is much better for this dish. If you want more information on costs and meals go to the most neglected blog in the world, family meals for less and check it out.


Pork lion 2.5 lb
1 Onion chopped
1 bag of red lentils
2 tbs cumin
1 jar of sofrito sauce
6 cups of chicken stock
1 cup of red wine
1 tbs oil
Salt and pepper to taste




We used this as two separate meals. The first meal was pork tacos, with refried beans and rice. The second meal is a pork and lentil soup with salad.

Here is how I did it. In a stock pot I sautéed the onions in a bit of oil. Add the bullion and lentils. Add the wine and sofrito sauce. Bring to a boil. Salt pepper pork tenderloin and add to pot. Add cumin. Reduce and allow to simmer for 45 minutes. Check periodically to make sure tenderloin is under liquid and stir the beans. Once the tenderloin is good and tender take it out and shred the meat. Add half back into the lentils. We set the lentils aside for another day, you could have them in or with the tacos too. The meat that is left is for the pork tacos. It should have a good flavor form cooking in the lentils, but if you want you add more cumin.

To top the tacos I made a quick salsa with three tomatillos. I cleaned three put it in the processor with 1 garlic clove, a pinch of red pepper, salt pepper and 2 tsp of lemon juice. Also, I put a little lime juice and salt in the sour cream too. We had our pork tacos with lettuce, sour cream and salsa on corn tortillas. I have to say, they were pretty tasty.

Salmon over Turnip Greens

I served the greens and salmon over mashed potatoes. Yesterday Joel wasn’t feel well and I hadn’t planned anything for dinner. So I just took the leftover greens and broth, warmed it in a pan and tossed with with some past and parm. It was quite good.



Normally, I am not a fan of cooking vegetables too much. This is a bit different. I cook them until they a totally soft and limp…almost soupy. Also I use a micro planer to grate my garlic. I like it better than a garlic press but you could to that as well but you might want to add an extra clove.

Turnip Greens

3tb olive oil
4 cloves garlic grated
1 lb turnip green cleaned and chopped
1tsp sugar
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup white wine
Salt and pepper to taste


Sautee the garlic in the oil for 2 minutes. Add ½ the turnip greens a bit at a time and turn to coat. Add chicken stock and wine. Add the rest of turnip greens. Add sugar and cook until very soft. Salt and pepper to taste.

1 lb salmon
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ tsp lemon rind


Cut the salmon into 4 pieces. Coat each piece with a touch of olive oil. Salt an pepper each piece. In skillet heat about 2 tbs olive oil and get it hot. Add salmon and turn heat down to medium. Cook on first side for 2 minutes. Flip and cook another minute to two. Remove from pan.

Plate about 1/3 cup of mashed potatoes. Put turnip green on top with several tablespoons of the liquid from the pan and place salmon on top. Finish with a couple of passes on the zester of fresh lemon rind.

Apples and Pork

I love a good sweet/savory combo. I get some folks can’t stand it. Nothing is better than good old pork and apples. My intent was to get some nice thick chops to do this, however at the market they only had super thin ones, and when they are thin like that I always opt for boneless. I really like how this came out and I think next time I do this I will go to the butcher.



Marinade
1.5 lb of pork chops(I used boneless)
½ c vinegar
2 c apple cider
1/8 c. salt

Mix vinegar, cider and salt in Ziploc bag. Add pork chops. Let rest 4-8 hours.

Pork
2 tbs oil
½ red onion chopped
3 tsp flour
1.5 c. apple cider
1 tsp fresh thyme (removed from stem)

Garnish
2 slices of green apple per chop
2 tbs butter
Salt
Dash of sugar

Sautee onion in oil add pork chops and cook on both sides for 2 minutes each (these were thin boneless chops, otherwise cook until almost done). Sprinkle with flour. Add thyme and apple cider and let simmer for 10 minutes or until liquid is thick

While sauce thicking heat 2 tbs butter and put slices of apple in and cook until done. Once browned pull out and sprinkle lightly with salt an sugar.

Top chops with apple and sauce. One thing I will say is I fully expected the apple slice to be a garnish, however I think it really made the dish special. So I my opinion, don’t skip that step.

Mahi Mahi with Israeli Cous Cous

The other night I had in mind that I wanted to coat some mahi mahi with some panko and rosemary and then fry it up. I wanted to lay that over some Israeli cous cous that was set in a Bouillabaisse like broth. In my mind it would be a soupy, rich, oily tomato based sauce. Something went wrong. Mind you, it did come out well… it really did. It just did not come out they way I had it in my mind. Perhaps I should have read some bouillabaisse recipes. Perhaps you can’t cheat 3 different kinds of fish, with some clam juice and fish bullions? The problem with the end product was that it really just tasted like a red sauce. It was a good red sauce, definitely Stromboli dipping worthy, but just a red sauce. Any suggestions are welcome.

3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
3 tbs of shallot or red onion finely chopped
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs butter
1 can crushed tomato
1 bottle of clam juice
3tbs fish sauce (if you have, I use it to add richness and salt)
1 c. red wine
2 fish bullion
1 c. water
Pinch of sugar
2 tbs Italian seasoning

Heat oil and butter together. Add onion/shallot and garlic. Sautee for 2 minutes. Add Italian seasoning. Sautee for another 2 minutes. Add tomato, clam juice, fish sauce, wine, bullion, water and sugar. Let simmer for 20 minutes.

I then made the cous cous to the package instructions, cut the mahi mahi into small pieces and coated and fried. I put some sauce on the bottom of the dish, the cous cous went on top and the fish on top of the cous cous. I finished with just a bit more sauce. Again it was good, but it lacked richness and depth. I am open for help here.

Hungarian Chicken

I am calling this Hungarian Chicken, for lack of a better idea of what to call it. This is how this came into being. It is cold here, and I think to myself, “Hungarian!” I mill it about in my head and finally decided on Chicken Paprika. So at the market I pick up a green pepper. When I got home I look up some recipes, none had green pepper and all called for split chicken breast and I just had boneless/skinless. What?? So what does any good blooded girl do? I called my mom. She said, “No, you are thinking of that pork recipe.” Shoot, she was right…but I had chicken defrosted. Hence the experiment began.

1 package of egg noodles
1 tbs oil
1 onion
1.5 lbs chicken cubed
3 tbs flour
3 cups chicken broth
1 c. white wine
1 green pepper sliced
2 tbs paprika (Hungarian sweet)
1 C. full fat Greek yogurt or sour cream





Sautee onion and chicken for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle 3 tbs flour over mixture and stir to coat.

Add 3 cup chicken broth and 1 tsp thyme and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add pepper to taste, paprika, 1 cup of dry white wine (preferably not a chardonnay) and sliced green pepper and simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare egg noodles.

Turn the burner down. Scoop the yogurt (or sour cream if you want) into a bowl. Add to the yogurt about ½ of the hot sauce from the pan and stir and then add the yogurt mixture to the pan with the chicken and green pepper. Add the hot liquid to the yogurt fist and than adding that mixture to the pan should prevent you from getting a lumpy or grainy texture from the yogurt curdling.


Sever over noodles and enjoy.

Banana Nut Bread

Okay, I have a confession. I like food….a lot. I do! All kinds. That said, I do try to eat reasonably healthy. Even more so, I am strict on what my children eat. So the other day I am sick and I read an article on the best ways to stay healthy, (I get the irony) and it suggests cutting back on sugar and processed foods because it lowers your immunity. Ironically at that very moment I had 4 banana’s dangerously close to fermenting. I decided to try a little experiment. I was very pleased with the results. The bread did not come out as sweet as a great deal of banana bread, but it WAS sweet and good. And for a no sugar, whole wheat treat, that my kid calls a cupcake...well they were just perfect.



2 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 overripe bananas
1 c. raisins
2 tbs milk
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly oil bread pan/pans (depends on size)

In a food processor processes raisins and milk until very blended or almost smooth. Add banana and pulse a few times.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside Add banana/ raisin mixture. Mix to combine.

Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Fold in the nuts. Spoon batter into pan and tap it on the counter to get the air out.

If you do two small loaf pans the bread will only need to cook for about 25 minutes. If you do one larger pan it will need to cook for about 35-40 minutes.

Check doneness with a toothpick or knife. When it comes out mostly clean it is done. Let is sit 20 minutes before eating.

Turkey Enchiladas

This is another recipe that is totally unoriginal. Bare with me though, ‘tis the season of traditions and I thought I would share a few of my favorite family recipes with you guys. I will get back to an original recipe tomorrow along with a contest! Some exciting things are happening here at Mommy Gourmet, so tune in over the next few weeks to make sure you don’t miss out on the all the fun!
Okay, besides the chestnut stuffing this recipe is the whole flipping reason for Thanksgiving for me (oh and giving thanks and all that jazz). I will warn you upfront these are not gourmet, or authentic, or fancy, but they are GOOD. I mean, G-O-O-D! I am going to give you the recipe as it was handed down to me, however, true to form I have made some alterations. These alterations were just in eliminating some steps that I don’t think made the end product any better. This is one of those forget the diet and forget the cardiac impact and just enjoy recipes.
12 Tortillas
2 tbs butter
¼ onion minced
1 cup turkey or chicken meat
1 ½ c. half and half or light cream
2c. Sour cream
1 can green chilies chopped
1 lb monetary jack cheese grated
Salt garlic powder
½ c oil
Heat over to 325.
Wilt onion in butter and add meat, and garlic and salt to taste. Add ¾ of the cheese and stir until melted.
In skillet heat oil. In a bowl large enough to dip tortilla in (try a pasta bowl) put the half and half or cream and about ¼ tsp salt and stir. Now fry the tortillas in oil just until soft (5-10 seconds each side) and dip them in the cream.
Put some of the meat (about 1 tbs worth, maybe a scant more)and cheese mixture in, roll, and place into a casserole dish.
Once all the tortillas are rolled pour the remaining cream over.
Add the chilies to the sour cream and add about ¼ tsp salt. Pour over tortillas. Place remaining cheese on top and bake.
I do not know what made me try it, but one year I decided not to fry the tortillas or dip them in cream. Instead I wrapped the tortillas in a barely damp towel and micro waved for 10 second (just to soften) then filled with meat and rolled. After the tortillas were rolled but before I put on the sour cream mixture I took about ¼ c of half and half and poured that evenly over the tortillas. I don’t think there was any difference in the end product and it saved a bit of time.

Turkey Soup

Okay, how could I not give you some recipes for turkey leftovers. More are on the way. This was my grandmothers soup and it is my favorite soup. It is great with leftover chicken as well.
1.5-2 c. chicken or turkey meat
1 onion chopped
3 celery stalks chopped
2 carrots diced
1tsp salt and pepper
2 qts water
6 bullion cubs
1 can cream corn
1 cup green beans
1 egg
1 cup flour
¼ tsp salt
Sesame oil (optional)
You want about 1..5-2 cups of meat. What I did was cover the turkey carcass with bullion and simmer for an hour. I then pulled the carcass out and ran under cool water and picked it clean. If you need to, add more meat. Add meat, carrots, celery, onion and salt and pepper back to bullion and simmer for one hour. Add your can of cream of corn and you green beans (I use frozen you could use fresh). Bring back to a boil. Meanwhile work 1 egg into 1 cup of flour and a quarter teaspoon of salt. The mixture will be mealy and dry. Scatter this mixture into the soup, cover pot an boil for 10 more minutes. Serve.
This is a very traditional down home sort of soup, however my parents added sesame oil one day to their bowl. The results were amazing. You only need a drop or two, but give it a try if you like sesame, you love it.

Sun Dried Tomato and Basil Chicken

1.5-2 lbs chicken
1 c. sun dried tomatoes (get the ones packed in oil)
16 basil leaves
1/4c. Cream
Salt an pepper
1tbs olive oil
Filet chicken breast, pound out and season. Remove ¼ c. of the tomatoes and set aside remaining. Line chicken with tomatoes and basil leaves, roll and secure with toothpick.
In skillet heat oil and add chicken. While chicken is cooking in food processor add remaining tomatoes and cream and 1tsp salt. Process. Check salt. When chicken is almost done, spoon cream mixture on top and let finish cooking.

Salmon with Honey-Soy Glaze (aka Miso Honey)

I have to say a special thanks to someone that stopped by and suggested the name change (aka). It was such a great idea I had to roll with it.

This was a recipe that my husband adapted from Gourmet. It originally called for Maple Syrup. We like it far better with honey.
¼ c. soy
¼ c. honey
2lb salmon
Boil honey and soy in saucepan over medium heat. Reduce to about 1/3 c. (about 5 minutes).
Heat oven to 450.
Pat salmon dry and season with salt and pepper. Reserving 1.5 tablespoons of glaze for later use, brush salmon with glaze. After 5 minutes brush with remaining glaze. Put salmon in oven and let cook for 10 minutes. Turn on broiler and broil 4-5 minutes. Brush with reserved glaze (use clean brush) and serve.

There are not any other fish I think this glaze would be good on, however I think it would be great on scallops.