BALSAMIC CHICKEN

I was asked today what was for dinner and all I really knew was that I had thawed some chicken breasts.

FOR A PRINTABLE RECIPE CLICK HERE
I then made things up as I went along using ingredients that I had on hand.

Dinner was wonderful. Full of flavour with a great aroma and visually very appetizing.

This was dinner for 2 but could easily be increased for more.
Here we go:

• 2 boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 tablespoon each of butter and olive oil
• juice from half a lemon
• 1 tablespoon of tarragon
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
• salt and pepper

Heat butter and olive oil in a heavy pan and brown on both sides until golden in colour.
Lower heat, squeeze in juice from half a lemon and cover pan. Let chicken cook through. Remove lid.
Sprinkle with tarragon and add balsamic vinegar.
Keep a close eye on the pan now and increase heat slightly to get pan bubbling. Spoon the sauce over the chicken repeatedly until the balsamic vinegar has reduced down to a thick syrup.
Don’t take it too far or you will burn it. You can always add more vinegar stirring up the mixture to mix it back in and then bubble it down again to the right consistency.
The chicken should have a wonderful, thick brown glaze on it. Remove to plates and pour any remaining sauce over the chicken. Sprinkle with feta cheese.
Serves 2

How do you cook? Do you follow the recipe to the letter or do you fly by the seat of your pants and hope for the best? I believe cooking should be more method and less recipe unless we are talking about baking.

EASY BLACK BEAN SALAD

I have been craving a black bean salad for a while now. I kept forgetting to buy the black beans though.

Finally  I picked some up and made a big container of bean salad to take to work for lunches this week.

I didn’t have a “go to” recipe so I went online to see what I could find that sounded good. One of the first recipes I saw called for adding mango to the salad.

What? Mango? I love mangoes but better yet I had a jar of a mango/peach salsa in my fridge that I had bought at Costco. Says it has a hint of habanero in it too. It is a delicious salsa.

It just occurred to me that I don’t have to do hardly any work for this salad if I just throw in a bit of fresh green onions, celery and cilantro.

So here you go:

1 can of black beans, rinsed
1 can of kidney beans, rinsed
1 can of garbanzo beans, rinsed
2 cups of fresh or frozen corn kernels
2 cups of salsa of your choice (or more if you like)
3 green onions, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
one big handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
juice from one fresh lime squeezed into the mix which will add such a fresh zip to the taste.

You can add any spices that you like. Chili powder, cumin, pepper. Add some different vegetables too. Like avocado? Toss some in but only if you are eating it today otherwise add it only the day of so it doesn’t discolor on you. How about chopped fresh jalapeno peppers. That was all I think mine was missing but I didn’t have any.

So in the end you have slaved away opening 3 cans of beans, a bag of frozen corn and a jar of salsa along with about 1 minute and half of chopping. Quite frankly you could get away with just the beans, corn and salsa in a pinch.

Ya. I think you can do this.

ROCKIN’ CABBAGE ROLLS

Those of you who have cooked with me before know that I don’t always use recipes. I use a method and I adapt it to what I have or what I like.
That is what becoming a cook is all about. It is not following every last detail of how somebody else does it unless there is some important baking going on that requires things done a certain way to succeed.
Take what I give you here and make it your own. Add more or less of what you want. It will turn out fine.
I have tried a couple different ways to prepare cabbage for making cabbage rolls.

• There is the old fashioned way of blanching it in a giant pot of boiling water. Not much fun, often dangerous and takes way too long.
• Another method is to simply freeze your head of cabbage and then when you thaw it out the leaves are limp and pliable. Doesn’t work for me on many levels but mostly because I do things on the spur of the moment and I don’t want to wait for the cabbage to thaw.
• Here is the best method I have found. Put your head of cabbage, with the core cut out as best you can, into a large dish with a 1/2 cup of water and cover this with plastic wrap. Microwave this for 10 minutes with the core end down then turn it over and microwave it another 10 minutes. Bingo it is done with little mess and less chance of burning yourself with that hot water. Just take it out and gently work it apart on a large, clean
  (as if you would use a dirty one) dish towel. You may need to trim a little more of the core to get them all off. Save any torn pieces and those that are too small. We will use them later. I use Savoy cabbage. It cooks up tender and is also a little like crepe paper when you are forming the rolls so it stretches around the meat filling beautifully.

Okay lets go:

• 1 head of Savoy cabbage
• 1 lb. of extra lean ground beef
• 1 lb. of ground pork
• 1 cup of rice
• 6 small tins of tomato soup (since my store is too dumb to carry the giant size tins of it)
• 1 tin of good quality crushed tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon of regular or hot paprika
• 2 teaspoons of granulated garlic

1. Start by cooking the cabbage in the microwave.
2. Cook the rice according to package instructions
3. Mix together the soup,tomatoes and the Worcestershire sauce and set aside.
4. Mix the ground beef and the ground pork together with the cooked rice, salt, pepper, garlic, paprika
5. Spoon a little of the tomato sauce over the bottom of your pan.
6. Take about a 1/4 cup of the meat mixture and place it at the base of a cabbage leaf. Roll it over a full turn then fold in the sides. Continue to roll it up and place it in the baking pan with the seam side down. They are cozy and they are happy! Now let’s cover them up with that yummy tomato sauce. Put your pan on a baking tray just in case it bubbles over. Cover the top with all the leftover and torn up bits to protect the cabbage rolls and sauce from burning. Now cover the whole lot with tin foil. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour and a half. Check one in the middle for doneness using a meat thermometer.

FOR A PRINTABLE RECIPE CLICK HERE.

CHICKEN CORDON BLEU LORI STYLE

I remember a time when the biggest thing in restaurants was Chicken Cordon Bleu. It was the stuff of first dates and dinner celebrations.

Recently I have had a craving for some stuffed chicken breasts so I decided to make my own.

I had to work until 6:15 so I prepared the chicken this morning before work. I worried that the coating would be soggy. It wasn’t.

Here we go with my version which is by no means traditional. There is no heavy cream sauce. It is not rolled up like many others are. It is just my version, which means easy and it turned out AWESOME.

CHICKEN CORDON BLEU LORI STYLE

CLICK HERE FOR A PRINTABLE RECIPE

Adjust the amounts according to the people you are feeding. Depending on how large the breasts are you will be able to fit in more ham and cheese.

Chicken breasts, boneless
Shaved deli ham
Sliced Swiss cheese (about 3 X 4 inches)
Greek style plain yogurt
Garlic, I used about 2 teaspoons of dried garlic granules
Pepper, 1 teaspoon but we like lots of pepper 
Panko bread crumbs
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Make a slice into the side of the breast making a nice big pocket. Be careful not to go all the way through but make is as big as possible. I made the pocket considerably bigger than this.  Take 2 slices of Swiss cheese and some shaved deli ham and roll them up like a cigar. Stuff this inside the pocket you made in the chicken. It will be very full but that is okay.

Mix garlic and pepper into the Greek yogurt and then roll the chicken breasts in that mixture. Look how thick and rich that Greek yogurt is. Brilliant for cooking. Roll this in Panko bread crumbs. Take some kitchen twine and tie around the breast in about 4 places to keep that stuffing inside and the breast together.
(I tried toothpicks but they don’t close the chicken up well enough. At this point I covered it up and put it in the fridge for about 9 hours until I got home from work.)

Place chicken in a baking dish with the cut side up to help keep the cheese inside. Sprinkle lightly with olive oil. If they are not able to stand up on their own make little tin foil bundles to help prop them up.(note there are 2 plain chicken breasts in the pan for the one in the house who rolls that way) Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until lightly browned and cooked through basting with the liquid from the pan which is a mix of the olive oil and the oil released from the cheese. It adds lots of flavor and helps to brown the Panko bread crumbs.My BB Guy said this was the best chicken he has had for as long as he could remember. He was so right. It was tender, moist and tasty. I wouldn’t add any salt in the cooking process because there is enough salt in the ham and the cheese. This is good enough for company and makes family feel like you are out for dinner for that special occasion.

BY POPULAR REQUEST - PIZZA DOUGH RECIPE

I had a couple of you ask for the dough recipe for the pizza so here you go. This is a bread machine recipe.

 PIZZA DOUGH:
1 CUP BEER
1 TABLESPOON SHORTENING
1 TABLESPOON SUGAR
1 TEASPOON SALT
3 CUPS FLOUR (in Canada the measure is 2 3/4 cups only)(I used whole grain...a little dry but good and healthy)
1 1/4 TEASPOONS YEAST

Put ingredients into breadmaker in the  order above. Use a dough/pasta setting and let it go until the cycle is complete. Remove from machine to a floured surface and knead in more flour if dough is too sticky. Not too much. Either roll out your dough now or wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
I cut this dough into 4 pieces and they make a nice size individual pizza each.
You can bake this on a lightly greased pan sprinkled with cornmeal but we use our pizza stone that is so well seasoned we don't need to grease it at all.
Bake at 425 degrees for 15-25 minutes depending on the size of you pizza. I like mine golden brown.

The dough will rise in the fridge so make sure you have it well wrapped because like the Blob that overtook the world this will happen to your refrigerator too. Quite a shock when you open the door and the giant ball of dough grabs you and pulls you inside.....

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RECIPES: Stuffed Potatoes

Stuffed potatoes are so easy to do, especially with a microwave oven to start them off. Since my BB discovered this he makes them often at the cabin. He has become quite a good cook since we bought our cabin. I have taught him everything he knows but not everything that I know. C'mon, I have to keep something up my sleeve.
Scrub up some thick skinned Russet potatoes. Cook them in the microwave until done. Slice them in half lengthwise and scoop out all the potato flesh leaving thin layer in the skin so you don't pierce a hole in it.
Mash the potato in a bowl with a bit of milk, some sour cream and whatever cheeses you like such as a herbed cream cheese, cheddar, Parmesan, Gruyere. You can add chopped bacon, green onions, chives, sun dried tomato. Just use your imagination. How about that left over broccoli from last night. Sure, just chop it up and mix it in. You can sprinkle a bit of cheese just on the top and it will brown nicely.
Now you put them in a baking dish and put them in your regular oven at about 350 degrees and bake for 20 minutes or until heated through. To make the top look toasty you can broil for a minute or so. Keep your eye on it every second so they don't burn under the broiler.
We seared some steaks in a big HOT cast iron pan and had some steamed carrots. Satisfying.
NOTE: It just occured to me that they would be delicious with left over salmon chunks gently stirred into it. That would make it a whole meal.

RECIPES: Greek Salad

I could eat Greek salad every day of the week. I just love it. I don't make it the traditional way but then again I don't do anything the traditional way.

Chop up a cucumber, sweet peppers of your choice, tomatoes, and red onion. Adjust the quantities to your tastes and servings. I toss it with a few tablespoons of really good balsamic vinegar and some basil although oregano is the original herb used. Once you mix this around you can add the olive oil. Use about 1/4 cup of the nice green extra virgin stuff. If you add it first the vinegar can't grab onto the salad and will just sit on the bottom. Sprinkle in as much Feta cheese as you like and top with Kalamata olives. I am the only olive eater in my house so I just leave them out.

TIP: first slice the tomato in half and gently squeeze out most of the seeds so you don't have a watered down salad.

I served this with some of the OMG meatballs from this site. I just simmered them in some mushroom soup and onion soup mixed. Fancy pants here.

RECIPES: Vegetable Soup

A basic recipe for a tasty, healthy soup. As with almost all of my recipes you can add or subtract whatever you like. Want more spice, ramp it up. Don't like fennel, who cares, don't use it. Want it completely vegetarian. Use different stock. Cooking is simple. Really.
Here is what I used.

1 onion
1 leek
3 carrots
3 ribs celery
1/2 fennel bulb
3 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1 carton of beef stock
1 teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning
2 tablespoons butter
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

I just love the way the fennel bulb smells and looks.

Cut off the green top of the leek and throw it away.

Cut the leek in half lengthwise and rinse it off. See the dirt inside this piece? Grit and sand. Yuck. Rinse it well between each layer. You may notice some of the outer layers are very tough. You can discard those as well.

Dice up all the vegetables and the garlic. Add butter to the pot with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil. If you need more you can add it later.

Saute the vegetables until softened and translucent. A little bit of caramelizing in the pot is fine but you don't want this brown.

Add in the carton of stock, Old Bay, bay leaves, salt and pepper.

Simmer this for an hour or so. You will be glad you added butter in the beginning because it will really show up in the end flavour. Serve with corn muffins or a nice crusty bread. If you want a little protein you can add some leftover chicken or have a bit of cheddar with your corn muffin.

RECIPES: Roasted Chicken & Vegies

Dinner should be as easy as it is delicious. This is good enough for company. If you choose to you can make a gravy but you should use butter instead of olive oil or your gravy will be oily and hard to blend.
1 roasting chicken
olive oil (or butter if you want to make gravy)
herbs of your choice such as rosemary, parsley, basil
garlic powder
salt & pepper
potatoes
beets Rinse and pat dry your chicken. Drizzle with olive oil and rub on some of your mixture of herbs, salt and pepper. It doesn't matter which herbs and spices you use. Really it doesn't. Chicken loves them all.

Do the same with the potatoes and beets. You can use other vegetables but they don't need to cook quite as long as the beets and potatoes do so add them a little later. Make sure it is a roasting chicken and not just a fryer.

Roast in a 350 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours or until done.

RECIPES: Beef And Veggie Stir Fry

Cooking a stir fry is the easiest way to get a lot of veggies on the table. I usually go through the crisper to see what is available and that decides what goes in.

1 flank steak

1/2 cup soy sauce, plus a little extra for mixing with the cornstarch

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons Hoisin sauce

1 teaspoon fish sauce

lots of fresh garlic, chopped

1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, sliced

1/2 cup almonds or cashews

pepper

vegetable oil

an assortment of cut up vegetables cut up roughly the same size. Make carrots thin.

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon of black or regular sesame seeds

1. Slice the flank steak across the grain into thin strips. This is easier to do when the steak is partly frozen.



2. Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, Hoisin, fish sauce, fish sauce, garlic, pepper and ginger in a bowl and pour over meat. Let sit four hours
3. Drain meat and pat dry with a paper towel so it will brown and not steam.
4. Remove ginger pieces.
5. Stir fry over high heat in batches removing cooked pieces to a platter.
   
6. Stir fry the vegetable for a few minutes and then cover briefly so they can steam just a little. If using snow peas don't add them until the last minute or they will overcook.


7. When they are done add the meat back in and stir in cornstarch mixed with a couple spoonfuls of soy sauce.
   
8. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over rice