Chicken Milanese

I got this recipe from a  family friend, Lyle, who is an amazing chef.  When I initially read the list of ingredients I was not expecting a dish that was so flavorful and delicious.  This is an easy and healthy recipe with minimal ingredients that I guarantee you and whoever you are cooking for will enjoy tremendously.  This is a recipe that I will make again and again.


Ingredients
1 1/2 T olive oil
1/2 cup Italian seasoned Panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
4 6 oz. Skinless, boneless chicken breasts, pounded thin.


Fresh Milanese Sauce
2 t. Olive oil
2 cups grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1 large shallot, chopped
1/4 t. Salt
1/4 t. Black pepper
1/2 cup fresh basil 
1/4 cup red wine
Olive oil flavored cooking spray

Instructions
Milanese Sauce
Heat large skillet over med. High heat until hot; add oil. Stir in tomato, salt, pepper, and shallot.
Cook 4 minutes or until shallots are tender, stirring often.
While tomato mixture cools, coarsely chop basil. Stir wine into tomato mixture. Cook 30 seconds. Remove from heat and stir in basil.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat until hot; add olive oil.

While pan heats, combine Panko and cheese in a shallow dish; coat both sides of chicken with cooking spray and dredge in Panko mix.
Cook chicken hot oil over medium heat 7 minutes on each side or until done. Place 1 breast half on each plate. Spoon fresh Milanese Sauce over chicken.

Serve with pasta tossed with olive oil, garlic, and parmesan cheese. A loaf of crusty bread and salad make the meal complete. 

Parmesan Chicken with Caesar Roasted Romaine

I was browsing Aaron's "bon appetit' magazine when I stumbled upon this recipe.  I have always been a fan of the caesar salad (really, who doesn't like a caesar?) and this recipe is a perfect play on the traditional caesar.  Plus, the recipe is super fast and easy and actually fairly low calorie. It is a forgone conclusion that I am a lazy chef.  Although my main goal is to prepare delicious food, I always secretly hope for recipes that do not take all day, have minimal ingredients, and do not require cooking techniques beyond skill set. This recipe fits the bill on all counts.

With the exception of making Kale chips a few times I have never baked lettuce before.  The baked romaine was delicious and complemented the chicken nicely. The lemon was key in keeping the dish bright and fresh tasting.

Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
kosher salt, black pepper
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup panko (japanese bread crumbs)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic gloves chopped (I didn't feel like chopping garlic and used granulated garlic instead)
2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parselt
2 large hearts of romaine, halved lengthwise
4 anchovy filets packed in oil, drained and chopped
1 lemon cut into wedges

Directions
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Either line our baking sheet with foil or use a non-stick cooking spray. Season your chicken breasts with salt and pepper and place on the baking sheet.
Combine, cheese, panko, garlic, parsley, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a bowl.
Pat panko mixture on top of chicken breasts. Roast chicken until panko crumbs turn golden brown. (the recipe says approximately 10 minutes but my chicken needed some more time so I did the initial bake for 20 to 25 minutes).
Drizzle the romaine with olive oil and garlic, season with salt and pepper.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and place the romaine on the baking sheet around the chicken. bake until the chicken is finished cooking and the lettuce is browned around the edges b/w 5 and 10 additional minutes.
Divide among the plates and top lettuce with anchovies and garnish with lemons wedges.

Jamaica Curry Chicken

I was having a craving for this yesterday.  I used to eat this at least once a week when I lived in Miami and it is so delicious.  I made the mistake of not wearing gloves while I was preparing the chicken with the curry and my clear nail polish was stained a super gnarly yellow color.  It looks like I smoke 10 packs a day and my nails are stained.  The curry will also stain clothes so proceed with caution. Although my Jamaican Curry was not exactly on point, it was pretty darn good and I have some ideas on how I want to proceed for next time.

This was the first time I ever cut up a whole chicken to cook with.  Usually I buy mine pre-cut, but in the spirit of making the dish authentic, I started out using a whole chicken.  I used a video off of You-tube for instructions, and although the finished product was not exactly pretty, I was able to get the parts that I needed for the dish.  Here is a link with instructions on how to cut up a whole chicken. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dbc1aW5C1W0

Jamaican Curry Chicken
1 whole chicken
8 tablespoons of Jamaican Curry powder
2 potatoes (peeled and cut into  smallish size pieces)
1 tablespoon allspice
1 white or yellow onion chopped
3 stalks of scallion chopped
5 cloves of garlic minced
2 scotch bonnet peppers (1 cut up very finely with seeds removed and one left whole)
1 tablespoon grated fressh ginger
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup of water or chicken stock

Directions
Cut up chicken as set forth by the link above and then cut the breast up into 1 inch cubes, you can remove the meat from the legs and the wings but I cooked mine with the bone in.  Mix the curry powder, all spice, garlic, salt and pepper. Rub these dry ingredients with a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil into the chicken and massage it in there. Marinate the chicken in the fridge for as long as time permits.  Heat up some vegetable oil in a large pan or pot and saute the onion, garlic, grated fresh ginger and the chopped scotch bonnet pepper for a few minutes. Remove from the pan and place aside. Add more oil to pan and brown the chicken in batches for approx 4 minutes on each side. Once you have completed browning the chicken, add all of the ingredients into the pan (I used my french oven) and bring to a  boil. Make sure not to pierce the skin of the second scotch bonnet pepper or the dish may be way too hot.  Once the dish has started to boil, lower the temperature and allow to lightly simmer for 1.5 hours.
Serve with white rice and peas (Jamaicans call black beans peas)

Pork Loin Focettina

I had the other half of the pork roast left over in the freezer from when I made the pesto crusted pork a few weeks ago.  I saw this recipe on the cooking channel awhile back and have been wanting to test it out.  Debi Mazar has a cooking show, "Extra Virgin", with her husband where they make old school Italian style recipes with local fresh ingredients. In any event, I thought this recipe looked amazing and simple.  I have not seen many recipes that call for cooking meat (not fish or poultry in my book) in a white wine sauce so this was our Friday night feast.

I did notice that the pesto encrusted pork that I made was juicier and I attribute that to the brining process. I am most likely going to brine my pork roasts from here on out (or at least until I can figure out how to make a pork roast as juicy without the brine as with it).  This recipe was a hit with Aaron and my dad and I thought the sauce and flavor were both amazing. The only thing I would change is the addition of a brine.

I served this dish with a side of baked zucchini and squash. I cut the zucchini and squash into rounds, placed them into a baking dish, sprinkled them with a little olive oil and parmesian reggiano, and baked for about 20 minutes. This was the perfect accompaniment for the pork dish and prevented the dish from becoming too heavy, which easily could have happened had I prepared potatoes or pasta. This is one of my favorite sides and could eat this a couple times a week. I love!

I got to use my new dutch oven for this dish.  I have been wanting to own a dutch oven for awhile now. For all you people who have their heads in the gutter, not the type of dutch ovens you receive from your spouse under the covers.  Actually, what we purchased is technically called a french oven but according to the research I have done they are pretty much equivalent to a dutch oven.  Here is a link for further explanation http://www.ochef.com/1324.htm

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
5 cloves garlic, peeled
Handful fresh rosemary, chopped
Handful fresh sage leaves, chopped
One 2 1/2-pound pork loin (some fat always helps the sauce)
1 cup dry white wine
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup whole

Instructions

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and saute the garlic, rosemary and sage for a couple of minutes. Add the pork loin to the pan,  sliding it on top of the herbs to prevent the hot oil from jumping onto your skin.

Saute the pork for about 5 minutes on each side, then remove it from the pan and set aside on a plate. Add the wine to the pan and use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan; cook until the smell of the alcohol has disappeared, 1 to 2 minutes.

Lower the flame to a very low-medium heat. Return the pork to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Partially cover with a lid and cook for about 1 1/2 hours, flipping the pork and scraping the bottom of the pan every 15 to 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the sauce, making sure it does not reduce too much; add some warm water if necessary, always in very small increments.

When the pork is ready, remove the pan from the heat and let cool for about 30 minutes. Remove the pork to a cutting board.

When the sauce is cooled, add the milk and put the pan back on the stove. Heat gently over medium-low heat, stirring the sauce constantly. This will prevent curd from forming and will produce a wonderful and soft creamy sauce.

Slice the pork and serve with the sauce.

Roasted Eggplant Soup

I try to sneak something healthy into every meal.  Aaron refuses to subsist on rabbit food, so I am always looking for vegetable dishes that have a richness and complexity of flavor that are low calorie and we will both enjoy. I also need dishes that are filling and don't appear to be too "healthy" or "vegetarian" so my husband will eat them without feeling the need to have a second dinner later on in the night.
I was given this recipe by my friend Shana, who got the recipe from another friend Lacey.  Hopefully they will keep the recipes coming, because I absolutely LOVE this soup. This recipe, like all of my recipes, is super easy, with minimal prep time.
Warning: I have a  "lovely" burn on my collar bone and another burn on my temple because I did not allow the soup to cool sufficiently prior to putting it in the blender.  Needless to say, once I started blending, the top flew off of the blender and I was covered in scalding hot eggplant soup.  I am extremely lucky that the damage to my skin was not worse. I always manage to injure myself while cooking.  I inherited this trait from mom. Thanks mom : )


ROASTED EGGPLANT SOUP


Ingredients
3 med tomatoes halved
1 large eggplant (approx 1 1/2 lbs) halved lengthwise
1 small onion halved
6 large garlic cloves peeled
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
5 cups low sodium chicken stock
1 cup of greek yogurt
3/4 cup of goat cheese

Instructions
preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place tomatoes, eggplant, onions, and garlic on a large baking sheet and brush with olive oil.
Roast in oven for 45 minutes or until vegetables are soft and brown in spots. Remove from oven.
Scoop the inside of the eggplant and place in large pot. Discard skin. Add the remaining vegetables and thyme to the pot. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 45 minutes. Cool slightly.

Puree the vegetables and stock in batches in the blender until smooth. Return soup to pot and bring soup to simmer.  If you need to add more stock to thin soup to your desired preference feel free to do so. Add in greek yogurt and stir.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve in owls and crumble goat cheese over the top.

Vegetable Soup

I have been lazy about posting on my blog lately.  I partly blame this on the fact that I have not been doing much in the kitchen besides making sandwiches or throwing together something that is super quick and not worthy of a blog post.  Does anyone really want to learn how I go about making a piece of toast or a box of macaroni and cheese? Highly doubtful.

I am trying to lay off of cooking comfort foods since my cravings for comfort foods have diminished lately. I was going to make a minestrone soup but decided to forgo the pasta, since I've been eating pasta by the truckload in the preceding months, and go with a strictly vegetable soup.  You cannot get much healthier or tastier than this soup. Plus, like all of the rest of my dishes, this dish is easy to make with a minimal prep time.  You can be the judge of what the ratio of each vegetable is in this soup based on your likes and dislikes. The good thing about preparing vegetable soup is that you can mix and match with pretty much any vegetables that you like. If you don't like squash then don't use it. I think  mushrooms would be a wonderful addition to this soup as would the addition of a starch like potatoes, rice, or pasta.

Ingredients
32 ozs chicken stock (if you want to go all vegan or vegetarian you can use vegetable stock, or if you plan on using a slow cooker you can use water)
1 large can of whole tomatoes in juice
1 large zucchini sliced in rounds (I used 3 little guys)
1 large yellow squash sliced in rounds (I used 3 little guys)
2 to 3 cups of spinach, swiss chard or kale
1 red onion chopped
3 stalks celery chopped
2 carrots chopped
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 can of cannelloni beans (white beans) rinsed and drained
green beans (canned or fresh)  used canned and just drained, rinsed and threw in
olive oil
Italian seasoning

Instructions
In large pot, saute the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic in olive oil until the onion is translucent. If you are using slow cooker, saute the vegetables in a separate pan and move over to slow cooker once onion is translucent. Add chicken stock and remaining ingredients.  I added an additional can of water. Do remember that the vegetables will shrink so don't add too much as far as liquids go. I cooked the soup on med heat for 4 hours in the slow cooker and added grated Parmesan reggiano to finish this off. If you are preparing this dish on the stove top simmer the soup until the vegetables are tender between 35 and 45 minutes.

I served this with garlic bread.  This is a good dish because it is easy to freeze.  I made a huge batch of this soup and froze the rest.  The next time I don't feel like making dinner the soup is ready to go.

Pesto-Crusted Pork Roast

We bought a pork roast the other day with the intent of trying it out in my infrared cooker.  I was preparing to use the infrared cooker but the cut of meat looked really good and I found this awesome looking recipe in Guy Fieri's cook book so I decided to prepare my pork roast traditionally, in an oven and roasting pan instead.  Aaron loves everything Guy Fieri. I can watch a couple Diners Drive-Ins and Dives and then I am done for awhile.  I went through the rest of Guy's cookbook today and found a couple of good recipes that I will try in the near future and share on my blog.

I was excited about this recipe because this is my first time preparing a cut of meat that has been "brined." The process is actually relatively simple and the meat wasn't overly salty, which I was afraid of.

I made Aaron mashed potatoes to eat with his pork roast and I had a salad with mine.  I love the pre-made salad packets.  I literally have to open a bag and my salad is ready to go, no washing, chopping, etc. required.  I don't know if it is just me who feels this way but sometimes by the time I have prepared the main dish, I don't want to cook any more. I prefer my sides to be quick and easy.

I would double the amount of vegetables that the recipe calls for, to put in the pan with the pork roast.  The pork was delicious, flavorful and moist, but in my opinion the vegetables stole the show because they soaked up all of the flavor as the meat roasted above them.  This is another example of setting the meat on vegetables instead of a rack when roasting (see my pot roast post). The recipe says to cook the meat b/w 2.5 and 3 hours but I checked my roast at 2 hours and it was done, so I recommend checking your temps periodically.  Make sure you have a gallon sized zip-lock for the brine and some kitchen twine for the roast. My local grocer didn't sell kitchen twine, so I asked the butcher and he cut me off a good section for free.  I have enough to use for the next time I need to "tie something up."

I am definitely making this one again.


PESTO-CRUSTED PORK ROAST
Ingredients


Brine
1/4 cup smashed garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1/3 cup kosher salt

Pork
One 3 to 4 pound bone in pork loin (I used boneless)
1/2 cup prepared basil pesto (I used Classico brand that I bought at Frys)
2 teaspoons red chili flakes
1 teaspoon kosher salt plus extra for seasoning
1 tablespoon black pepper, plus extra for seasoning
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 cup cup of roughly chopped carrots
1/2 cup smashed garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil


- Combine the brine ingredients in a resealable 1 gallon plastic bag(or large bowl)  filled 1/3 with water. Add the pork to the brine mixture and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours (max 8 hours)
-Remove pork from brine and rinse under cool water, pat dry with paper towels
- Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees
- if using bone in pork roast, using sharp knife, slice between eye of loin and bottom of bone.
- combine pesto, chili flakes, minced garlic, salt and pepper. Mix well and spread mixture evenly on inside of loin.  Carefully roll the loin back up and fasten it with kitchen twine.
- In a large roasting pan, place, onions, carrots, and smashed garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place pork roast on top of the veggies and "tent" the pan with heavy duty aluminum foil.  Roast between 2 1/2  to 3 hours or until meat thermometer in the middle of the meat registers bw 145 and 150 degrees
- pull meat out and let rest "tented" for 15 to 20 min
- remove kitchen twine and slice into 1 1/2 inch slices
- drizzle pan juices over the tops and serve with cooked vegetables.