Lemon Rosemary Chicken

1.5 lb split chicken breast
¼ c. lemon juice
¼ olive or lemon infuse olive oil
1 tsp lemon rind
1tbs chopped rosemary
¼ greek yogurt (or sour cream or regular plain yogurt)
2 tsp general purpose seasoning (greek, lemon pepper)

Heat oven to 375. Heavily salt and pepper chicken and bake covered for 35 minutes. Meanwhile whisk together lemon juice, rind, oil, rosemary, yogurt, and general seasoning. After 30 minutes increase temperature to 400. Cover chicken with marinade and put chicken uncovered back in to bake. Bake for 15-20 more minutes or until done.

This would be great with pork or fish.

Indian Experimenting

Okay, clearly this is not a recipe of mine, this isn’t even pilfering. However, it was a great find and I had to share. As I have said, I am thrilled with the new made over Food Lions. I know! I swear just go in, you will be shocked. It used to be so bad I called it the Food Dog (well that and the logo looked more like a dog than lion to me). So one day while shopping in there new little international section, I came across something I typically would not have bought if not been for my giddy mindset. (Okay… don’t expect whole foods or Ellwood when you go there. It is still a Food Lion after all, it is just so nice to have a decent store, other than Ukrops which I hate, near me.) While in this happy state, perusing the Indian section, I put two things in my cart. The first, I might have considered before, it was a “Kitchens of India” paste for butter chicken curry. The other was “MTR” Palak Paneer. It was a ready to eat package. I know! I would have never done this if not intoxicated by my new choices! (can you tell we are woefully in need of a really good store hear on the city’s south side?)

I made both last night, more as a precaution hoping at least one would be good. Let me tell you, Palak Paneer is one of my favorites and a must order for every Indian outing Joel and I have. Butter chicken curry I have never had, so I didn’t have any point of reference. I augmented the butter chicken. The package calls for you to melt 3 tbs of butter and add a pound of chicken, season packages and a cup of water and cook for 20 minutes. I wanted more than sauce and meat. I added onions and carrots (I know not a big deal, but made me feel less like a total carnivore). I have to tell you, it was outstanding. It had a great heat level that built, it was rich (butter will do that though!!) it was wonderful, easy and CHEAP. The seasoning was $1.60 or there about, a pound of chicken, some rice and viola a great meal for two in under thirty minutes for about $5. Can you beat it? Really? Next time I would add potatoes, I thought that would be a really good addition. Leave it to me to make the simple more complicated!
Now on to the Palak Paneer. I have a mixed review on this. It was good. It was. It was NO WHERE near as good as what you would get in a restaurant. Nowhere close. That said, it was good. The spinach was thin and saucy not thick like I am used to. The cheese was good. I suspect that an Indian would look at this like an Italian looks at Chef Boyardee. That said, I would get it again. Honestly, some days you just don’t want to cook. This was about $2.75, throw it over some rice and again, viola a meal for two. Like I said, we made both last night. My husband had one and a half helpings and we still have enough left over for a really nice lunch. So for under $10 bucks and under 30 minutes I get two meals that maybe aren’t as good as the restaurant but are a heck of a lot better than a hot pocket.

Try it out and enjoy!!!

Pork With Apple Stuffing

It is sad, my aunts and uncles and cousins are all having a pig roast this weekend in Indiana. I couldn’t go. So I am missing all the food and all the fun. So I decided in honor of them, I would do a little pig myself. Not exactly a pig roast, but hey… it is just two of us after all.

3 lb pork tenderloin
Filet Pork tenderloin (you slice horizontally, essentially making a V on it’s side so that instead of one big round piece of meat you have a wide flat piece you can stuff and roll). Salt and pepper heavily.

Stuffing
1 tbs olive oil
2 celery stalks chopped
1 onion chopped
3 small apples chopped (I used Macintosh You need a good tart cooking apple)
2 cups chicken stalk
5 pieces bread
2 tbs fresh sage
1 c. raisins
Salt pepper
1 egg
Heat oil and sauté onion and celery. Cook on medium for about 3 minutes. Add apples. Cook on medium for 5 minutes. Add chicken stalk, sage and raisins. Bring to simmer and let simmer 3 minutes. Add bread breaking apart before adding. I used whole wheat because I like the nutty flavor, but use what you want. Season to taste before adding egg. Cook until liquid is absorbed by bread. Should be mushy but not wet. If need to add more bread a little at a time. Remove from stovetop, add egg.
You will only need about ½-¾ of the stuffing. Put a generous amount along the center of the meat. You want a good amount of stuffing but need to still be able to bring the meant up around and secure. You can secure with toothpicks or string.
Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. While baking make glaze.



Glaze
Finely chop one apple (I used Macintosh You need a good tart cooking apple)
1 cup sherry
2 tbs sugar
1 tsp salt
Add all ingredients to skillet and cook for 5-7 minutes on medium low until apples are soft and liquid reduced by half. Let cool, put in food processor and process until smooth.
After roast has cooked for 35 minutes turn up the heat to 400. Pour glaze over top of roast and cook uncovered for 10 more minutes. Pull out and let stand for 10 minutes. Slice and serve.

Green Tomato Pasta

Tis that time of year again. Green tomato season! So here is another attempt at using up those green tomatoes. Not bad!
1/2 lb pasta
5 medium green tomatoes chopped
1 small onion diced
¼ lb chopped pancetta (you can get this at Trader Joes!!)
1 c. marinated artichoke heats
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs lemon zest
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of red pepper

Sauté tomatoes, onions and pancetta in olive oil for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile boil the pasta. When pasta is almost done, take one ladle full of the water and add it to sauce. Add artichokes and seasoning. Sauté for about 5 minutes or until sauce thickened a bit. Add lemons zest and cook one more minute. Drain pasta, toss immediately and serve.

Mushroom Stuffed Meatloaf

This recipe is a bit of a break from my normal approach. I tried to task myself with coming up with a meatloaf that I felt was appropriate to serve at a nice dinner party. I don’t know if I accomplished it, it still is a meatloaf after all… but I did dress the girl up a bit. It is also a bit more complicated (okay not complicated, again it is just a meatloaf, but rather more involved) than my average fair. I do have to say I think it came out pretty good.
Meat mixture
2 eggs
2 TBS tarragon (Okay, I used tarragon but I really wanted to use marjoram but I was out of it.)
1 tsp of Fines Herbs (omit if you don’t have)
1 TBS salt
1TBS minced garlic
½ tsp Pepper
2 lbs ground beef
1 lb ground pork
8 slices of bread that have been soaked in milk (about ¼ c milk)
Mix together and set aside
Mushroom Mixture
2 packages of mixed mushrooms (or portabella or whatever you like. ) shopped
4 shallots chopped
4 TBS butter
2 TBS Olive Oil
6 oz (two shot glasses worth) of dry sherry
Salt and pepper to taste
Melt butter and add oil. Sautee shallots for 3 minutes add chopped mushrooms, sherry, and salt and pepper and sauté for another 3 minutes. Set aside
Sauce
This is very much like a Marsala sauce and would have been if I had marsala so feel free to substitute.
3 TBS butter
3 TBS flour
1 C beef stock
2 c. dry sherry
Pinch of tarragon
2 TBS cream
Melt butter and add flour to form paste. Slowly add stock while whisking. Add sherry one cup at a time. Add tarragon and cook on high heat until sauce has thickened some. Add cream. Set aside.

In a large baking dish line bottom with ½ of the meat mixture. Bring the meat up the sides of the pan (you are essentially making a stuffed meatloaf ) forming a shallow cup of sorts. Put the mushroom mixture in the center and spread 1/3 of the sauce on top. Cover with remaining meat. Cover meat with 1/3 of sauce and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Heat the remaining sauce right before serving. Once you have the slice of meatloaf on the plate, over each serving spoon a little more sauce…enjoy.
If you don’t love mushrooms try making a bread stuffing with apples or pears, I think that would be really good as well.