chicken & grapes

Every time I had the option of choosing dinner growing up I chose the same recipe. Every holiday & birthday I would ask for the same recipe. Even now, if meim visits and offers to cook dinner, I ask for the same recipe; chicken & grapes. This is the one recipe (other than king crab legs) that I will never ever ever get sick of. Chicken & grapes is also amazing as left overs. Its overall a perfected recipe in every aspect.

Ingredients:

Curried rice 

1 cup rice

1 small apple (peeled, cored & cubed)

2 tbs curry powder

2 tbs butter

1 bay leaf

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

Chicken and sauce

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

Salt & pepper 

2 shallots

10 green grapes

1/2 cup white wine

3 tbs butter

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Directions:

1. Begin with the rice. Heat 2 tbs butter, add onion and garlic. Cook until onion begins to hint at turning brown.

 

2. Add cubed apple and curry powder. Stir to mix.
 

 

3. Add rice, bay leaf, and chicken broth. Stir and bring to a low simmer. Cover and let sit for 20 minutes.

 

 

4. As the rice is simmering, cut the chicken into strips. Add 3 tbs butter to a pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken strips, sprinkle salt and pepper, and cook until it loses the raw-chicken look. Once it reaches this point, transfer to plate and cover with foil.
 

 

5. Add shallots to the pan and cook for 3 minutes. 

 6. Add wine and stir constantly until half has cooked off. Add juices that accumulate around reserved chicken pieces.

7. Add heavy cream and grapes to the wine-shallot mixture. Stir over high heat to thicken.

 

 

8. Add chicken back into mixture to fully cook and thicken sauce.
 

 

9. Once fully cooked and thickened to your liking, remove bay leaf & fluff rice, and plate in this order: rice, chicken, extra sauce, more extra sauce.
 

 

 

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chicken tetrazzini

Chicken tetrazzini has been in my life since elementary school. I went to a private school for 14 years (uniform & all) and had the same school chef for all of those years. Every week she would let me know of the upcoming meals, and would ask when I would like my favorite meal. Each time the tetrazzini was on the menu, I would be the little girl going back & back & back for more portions. Finally, my mother realized I had found my food soul-mate, cheesy & noodly....my soul-mate for sure. She realized the way to make me forever happy was to ask for the recipe. Finally, we received the answer to my foodie prayers. Ever since, I've tweaked it to make it easier & tastier...and today...I will share this glorious dish with you!

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts (1 lb)
1/2 cup panko or breadcrumbs
Salt & pepper
1 lb whole wheat spaghetti
1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese


 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease a baking pan. Cut chicken breasts into strips in order to cook quicker. Dredge through flour and coat in panko or breadcrumbs.

2. Place on baking sheet, drizzle in olive oil & top with salt and pepper. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Check until chicken is almost thoroughly-cooked (end product should be undercooked, as it will be cooked fully later).

 3. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti until al dente. Strain & empty into lightly-greased pan.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in flour.

5. Mix in chicken broth, milk, oregano, and extra salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.

 

6. Stir in most of the parmesan cheese and remove from heat.

 7. Chop up chicken into bits and layer over spaghetti in pan.

 8. Pour liquid mixture over chicken & spaghetti. Mix around to ensure liquid seeps into all parts of the pan.

8. Sprinkle remainder of parmesan cheese & panko on top of the mixture.

 

9. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until crispy, browned & bubbly.

10. Serve and enjoy!

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frittata wednesday

Today was a sick day, so what better than a frittata to start the health-recovery process? This is a super-simple recipe, great for a group-brunch!

Ingredients needed:

6 eggs

1 potato

1 onion

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup shredded parmesan

1/4 cup shredded cheddar

2 cloves of garlic (or garlic infused olive oil)

Handful of fresh herbs of choice (chives, oregano, and basil)

**Feel free to add extras of your choice: sausage, mushrooms, peppers, asparagus**

Drizzle oil of choice over diced potatoes and roughly chopped onions. Add garlic once potatoes and onions begin to crisp. Cook on medium-high until desired crispiness in an oven-safe skillet.

Grab a handful of fresh herbs, shred both cheeses, pour 1/4 cup milk into a bowl, and add 6 eggs (more whites than yolks for a healthy frittata). Whisk and add pinches of salt and pepper.  Pour whisked egg, cheese, and herb mixture over the potatoes and onions. Cook on stove-top for 5 minutes.

Place oven-safe skillet into oven and broil for 6 minutes. Frittata is done when browned on top. Cut up into slices and enjoy!

**Note: this also reheats very well!!

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healthy fajitas

Sadly enough (for T), I am not a huge fan of Mexican food...but I do love fajitas!! Here is a perfectly simple healthy recipe for a mid-week meal:

Ingredients you will need:

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 clove garlic, minced

1 dash hot pepper sauce

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into strips

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 green bell pepper, sliced

1/2 lemon, juiced

Tortillas

Step 1:

Pouring directly into a Ziploc bag, combine Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, chili powder, garlic and hot pepper sauce. Place chicken in Ziploc bag, and shake to coat. Marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature.

 Step 2:
Chop onion and green pepper and saute.

Step 3:

Add oil and chicken strips to the pan, and saute for 6 minutes.

 Step 4:

Add the onion and green pepper, and saute another 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and sprinkle with lemon juice.

Step 5:

Complete assembly with extras of choice (i.e. shredded cheese, sour cream, guacamole, tomatoes, extra sauce or any other topping you love!) and enjoy!

Mmmm...also of note, this dish re-heats beautifully for a tasty treat of a lunch the following day!

**Reheating instructions: Place tortilla(s) on a plate, sprinkle with cheese, and microwave for 7 seconds. Heat up the chicken, onions, and peppers in their sauce. Assemble and enjoy (again!)**

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sriracha day

With yesterday being a chilly and wet day I needed something to warm me up. Sunday turned into Sriracha Day when we found the sriracha cookbook (found here) I got for T for some previous holiday. The book is filled with some regular uses and some outlandish uses for sriracha, from sriracha mayo to the sriracha tropical fruit salad (which I made obviously). While I made the sriracha tropical fruit salad (with pineapple, mango, strawberries, kiwis, and bananas mixed with soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, and honey topped with coconut and fresh mint), T made sriracha mac n' cheese.

After a night of spiciness I made some zucchini mini-muffins (and a loaf to freeze for later weekend guests).

 

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