Garlic and Herb Chicken - Quick & Easy

If you haven't noticed, I'm a bit top heavy on the chicken recipes. This house consumes more chicken than all the other meat groups combined.....by far. I'm not a huge pork fan and beef can be expensive and well...fish is out of the question. Sooo...that leaves poultry. Its a damn good thing that its so flexible or I'd be in trouble.

This meal is really tasty but a little too much "Sandra Lee'ish" for my liking. I don't usually use packaged products in my meals but once in a while shit happens. It was a long day. I was tired. I had the ingredients and well...it just had to be. It's always popular with the fam but the fact that it contains MSG really bothers me. So, I guess you can just call this meal a guilty pleasure.

Anyways...its a simple, quick (if you use chopped up chicken) dinner and heres how it works:

5 skinless chicken thighs (I used boneless skinless chicken thighs. I've used a couple of chicken breast instead too. Oh...and sometimes I chop the chicken up into bite sized pieces. Do what you want...it's all good)

2 - 3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt

Pepper

2 garlic cloves, crushed

6 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced (the ones in the picture are crimini mushrooms. Regular white mushrooms are completely fine)

2 tablespoons butter

1 packet of Knorr Garlic & Herb Sauce Mix

1 1/2 cups milk

But before we get started, lets treat the cook to something special :)

The Wine of the Month at BakeSpace.com this month is Merlot. I really enjoy Merlot and this month I'm trying several brands that I've never tried before. This one is no exception. The reason I chose it is due to the name... 3 Blind Moose with a yellow cork even! How could I not give it a shot? I'll be posting a review sometime by the end of the month in the June Wine - Merlot section of the Wine Club at BakeSpace.com. If you'd like, feel free to join us. We love new peeps and have such a good time.

Ok, now that the wine is poured and the ingredients all set, the cook is happy and ready to get rolling.

First off, heat the olive oil in a skillet, season the chicken with salt and pepper. Cook over medium / high heat until the chicken is brown on both sides. Remove from skillet. (pictures of browned meat not included....they all look the same, right?)

Now, toss the butter in the skillet; melt. Add mushrooms and garlic:

oh yum...do you know how good thats going to smell in a few seconds? Saute until tender:

Oh ya.....its smells awesome! I think you could saute pebbles with garlic and they'd smell awesome.

Now....combine the seasoning packet with the milk in a bowl. Stir until blended (you don't want clumps of seasoning in the bottom of the bowl). Add sauce mixture to the pan with the mushrooms; stir and scrape the bottom of the pan to get all the crunchies up (thats where all the flavor is!). Return the chicken back to the pan:

Reduce the heat to simmer, cover and cook until the chicken is done, turning once. If the chicken is whole it will take about 30 - 45 minutes. If you've cut the chicken into pieces then it will only be a few minutes.

Serve over your favorite pasta and enjoy. Oh...and I think next time I might add some fresh chopped Italian parsley. The scent from the sprig I put in the photo was wonderful. It just added that extra fresh pizzaz.

French Country Meal - Salubrious Sunday #1

Well, I did it. I made a very healthy meal on Sunday and it was really good! (who would've thought? LOL). I got these recipes from a cookbook called The Good Life by Pamela Smith. She titled the meal French Country Meal and the menu included:

Cornish Game Hens (those little suckers are a bit expensive so I won't be doing them very often. I'll have to substitute regular ole chicken)

Marinated Tomatoes

Sauteed Carrots and New Potatoes (new potatoes? why not just call them baby potatoes? every other veggie does!)

I didn't do any step-by-step pictures because there really weren't that many steps. I mean, you chop, combine, marinate and saute. Not much to it. The results are all that matter really. And these results were great! (being simple, didn't hurt either)

Lets deal with the Cornish Hens first. This recipe called for:

2 Cornish hens, halved lengthwise (get out your cooking shears!)

2/3 cup white wine Worcestershire Sauce (its the Worcestershire Sauce for chicken)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary

1 tsp. Mrs. Dash seasoning

1/2 tsp. creole seasoning

Preheat oven to 375'

Remove the skin from the Cornish Hens where possible. Really, its not has hard as it sounds. But, I didn't even attempt to remove the skin from the wings...I mean...really! So not worth it. Place in a small roasting pan and top with remaining ingredients. Let marinade for at least 1 hour.

My Notes: First of all, Worcestershire Sauce has anchovies in it. I'm allergic to fish, therefore I had to use something else. Hmmm...I had JUST made that Balsamic Marinade...No Brainer! The only Mrs. Dash seasoning that I had was lemon pepper. And...I put those little hen halves in a gallon zip lock baggy and poured the remaining ingredients in there. Works way better for marinating.

Place hens in the oven for 45 minutes or until juices run clear. Brush occasionally with marinade in pan.

Serves 4

Per Serving:

Calories 150

Protein 25 gr

Carb. 0 gr

Fat 4 gr.

Cal. from fat 28%

Chol. 74 mg.

Sodium 202 mg.

So far so good. Simple too :)

Now for the Marinated Tomatoes:

4 tomatoes

1/2 cup Balsamic Marinade

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil

1 tsp. back pepper

1/2 tsp. creole seasoning

Slice each tomato into 5 - 7 slices and marinate in Balsamic Marinade for up to 1 hour. Sprinkle with basil, pepper and creole seasoning.

Serves 4

Per Serving:

Calories 34

Protein 1 gr.

Carb. 5 gr.

Fat 1 gr.

Cal. from fat 26%

Chol. 0 mg.

Sodium 168 mg.

So simple and bursting with flavor!!!

Last but not least the Sauteed Carrots and "New" Potatoes

1 lb. small red potatoes, quartered

1 tsp. olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup baby carrots

1/2 tsp. Mrs. Dash seasoning

1/2 tsp. creole seasoning

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh herbs (cilantro, basil, rosemary, thyme)

1/4 cup chicken stock (fat free / low salt)

1/2 lb. sugar snap peas

Place the potatoes in a microwavable dish with 1/4 cup water. Microwave on high for 4 minutes; drain.

Spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray, then add olive oil. (two things that bug me about that; 1. I don't own a nonstick skillet. It really bugs me when thats part of the directions. I have cast iron and stainless steel. whateeeeeeverrrrrr and whats the purpose of the spray AND olive oil? strange). Heat. Add garlic to pan; saute for just a few seconds. Add potatoes, carrots, sugar snap peas, herbs and seasoning. Saute for 5 minutes, adding chicken stock as needed. (now here the directions say to add the sugar snap peas if using defrosted frozen ones). Saute until crisp tender.

Serves 4

Per Serving:

Calories 117

Protein 4 gr.

Carb. 23 gr.

Fat 1.5 gr.

Cal. from fat 11%

Chol. 0 mg.

Sodium 167 mg.

Thats it! All done! Great color, great flavor! Now I don't completely know what level of sodium and carbs everything should be in order to be considered healthy. I'll learn as I go and pick up on stuff along the way I'm sure.

Oh ya...one more thing (sorry, couldn't resist!). But I had some Pomegranate / Cranberry frozen juice in the fridge and I made myself a nice little cocktail with it. Ya ya, I totally blew the whole healthy thing but look at it this way....at least something was healthy. It could've been worse. I could've made some really fattening dinner loaded with butter and cheese and still had the cocktail.

What did I make? Well...let me tell you!! Its a new version of my Gringo Margarita and to be honest with you, I like it better with the Pom/Cran juice instead of the limeade!

12 oz can of Pom / Cran frozen juice

12 oz can of Coors Light (see? at least the beer was light!! LOL)

12 oz tequila (clear)

12 oz ginger ale

CHEERS!

Salubrious Sunday - The Beginning

Salubrious Sunday, not to be confused with salacious. I'm not saying that both can't happen simultaneously, but that would be a blog of a different color. 

When I was growing up, Sunday Dinner was usually a bit more special than the dinners during the rest of the week. At least as far as I can remember, they were. Hmmm....not that I can pick out any "special sunday meals"....but for some reason it's in my head. Since starting my own family, thats what I've tried to do. But now that I think of it....what if.....my so called "family tradition" was based on watching a little too much Little House on the Prairie and too many episodes of The Waltons! Oh well, it beats the crap out of The Simpson and Family Guy, right? Oh shit...what will the next generation pick up from those shows and call a "family tradition"!!! (be afraid....be veeeeeery afraid!)

So, where am I going with this? hmmm....well. I think I'm going to alter (no pun intended for the sabbath) my Sunday dinner tradition and make the meals healthy. I currently only have 2 healthy cookbooks by a great author, Pamela Smith....

The things you can learn from her!! 

I know that eventually down the line I will need other recipes and maybe another healthy cookbook or 5....ya think?

So, for this particular entry, I'm just gonna give you an awesome marinade recipe. Way healthy and waaaay tasty!! Let me be more specific:

Each serving = 2 tablespoons, 21 calories, Fat = 2 gr., Carb. = 1 gr., Cal. from fat 85 %, and Sodium = 43 mg. 

I'm totally new at this stuff but I think so far so good. I mean, all the numbers are low....and thats a good thing right? Hahaha....yep.....this will be an adventure. I'll probably talk about new things that I learn and am excited about (if its old hat to you, then well....humor me, will ya?).

Here's what you need:

3 cups chicken stock (fat-free / low salt)

1/2 cup olive oil

2 cups balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

2 Tbsp. water

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. black pepper

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme (I hate thyme...so I used rosemary instead)

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil

1/2 Tbsp. chopped chives

1 Tbsp. hot sauce

1/4 cup orange juice

juice of 1 lime

1 serrano or jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

2 tsp. creole seasoning

(ooooh, ya...it's gonna be good!!!)

Heat chicken stock, oil and vinegar. In a separate bowl, mix together the cornstarch and water. Add to the stock mixture. Gently boil for 1 minute to thicken.

Remove from heat and cool. Add remaining ingredients and refrigerate.

Stir before using!

Use for marinating meats and vegetables. Marinating time can vary from 15 minutes to overnight. 

Makes 50 servings. 

Ok...here are a few tips from the author....

"Unused marinade can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks." (hmm..I think some of this just might have to be frozen since it makes soooo much!!)

"Marinades flavor and tenderize foods. Most marinades contain an  acid ingredient (like lemon or lime juice, vinegar or wine) which tenderizes tough cuts of meat."

"Always marinade food in a glass or plastic container, never metal. Allow the marinade to cover the food. Food can also be marinated in a large zip-top plastic bag. Turn the bag occasionally to distribute the marinade."

And yes...today was the beginning of my new tradition... Salubrious Sunday. I did use this marinade for tonight's dinner and will post it later in the week. 

Garlic BBQ Chicken - You Gotta Love Simple!

The other day I needed inspiration for dinner this weekend. I wanted something new and I didn't want to flip through the same old cookbooks that I've been flipping through for years. What I ended up doing was asking for help via my status on FaceBook. I got some great ideas (which reminds me...did you know that Olive Gardens posts recipes on their website? I'm gonna have to check that out. It was one of the "ideas" that was given to me by one of my friends on FaceBook). Who knew FaceBook could be so useful? The recipe I chose to do was the Garlic BBQ Chicken that was recommended by a gal I went to school with. I chose it for a couple of reasons. 1. I had all the ingredients (major plus). 2. I LOVE garlic. 3. it was simple and 4. it came highly recommended. A no brainer....especially after a long day of cleaning and stuff. It was exactly what the Dr. ordered. And since the recipe is so simple, this blog will be too...

Here's what you need:

4 - 6 Chicken Breasts (I used boneless, skinless breasts and butterflied them for more even cooking)

1/2 cup melted butter

3 Tablespoons (yes tablespoons) minced garlic :)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 Tablespoon dried parsley

Combine all of the ingredients and let the chicken marinade for at least an hour. Now here's what happened to me tho.... (its a total "duh" thing but what else could I have done?) I put it all in a zip lock baggy in the late afternoon. The longer chicken marinades, the better. I stuck the bag in the fridge and occasionally turned the bag so that the juices saturated everything. Well....I started noticing some "clumping" going on in the bag. Ya...the butter re-hardened. hahaha! and why wouldn't it? But I didn't want the chicken to sit out on the counter, even if it had only been for an hour. I'm really weird and way cautious about that stuff....it goes in the fridge unless I'm about to cook it. So what I ended up doing was removing the chicken from the bag and zapping the bag in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Then I poured all the contents over the chicken (butter and all) and everything was fine. 

This recipe was intended as a BBQ grilling recipe. The marinade can be used for basting but I'd boil it first to kill all that raw chicken bacteria (I'm telling you, raw chicken scares me). My husband didn't want to BBQ last night, so I popped these babies in the oven (marinade and all). Let them cook a bit and then, since I had my indoor stove grill pan (the one that smokes out the kitchen every single time I use it) and had just cooked me some sliced squashes on it, I decided to throw on the chicken for a second...just to get those fun little grill marks on them.....good stuff. Thanks Janet!! :)

Lemon Pancakes with Strawberry Balsamic Syrup

Strawberry and Balsamic Vinegar? For reals? I knoooow....it really sounds odd. I mean, I have an awesome balsamic marinade for steaks. Strawberries just sound so....wrong, righty? Nu uh uh...think again.

Let me tall ya....there's a special something that balsamic vinegar does to those strawberries. A certain magic. I can't explain it but its like...I dunno, have you ever tasted cookie dough before you added the brown sugar and thought mmmm...thats good. Then you add the brown sugar and its like WOW!! A whole new level of good! Thats what balsamic vinegar does! I swear. The vinegar taste disappears. Poooof! See? Magic! 

Now..a few weeks ago I came across a really yummy sounding recipe for Lemon-Ricotta Pancakes. I was so excited cuz I happened to have some ricotta cheese left over from something I made (I totally forget what it was) and here was a way to use it, and try something new! Only, I didn't have a chance to get to this new recipe until today and well....lets just say that the ricotta cheese had aged too much. (Umm...before I get any further into this store, let me give you the "click here" link to where I originally found the recipe, that I ended up slightly altering due to a lack of one ingredient. It is a lovely blog, btw). Sooo, I thought 'crap! now what? I'm totally wanting to try this syrup and I want to make these pancakes!! ' Searching searching searching...through the fridge...hmm....plain yogurt? eeeeh, I dunno. Cottage cheese? damn! that shit is older than the ricotta!! hmm....whipped cream cheese? mmmm....too thick I think. Oh...hey, lets try sour cream! Now we're off and running!

First I made the syrup so it could cool off before use:

3 cups strawberries

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

zest from one lemon

Combine all the ingredients and stir until the sugar has melted

Then I got out my handy dandy potato masher and squished those berries. I let it simmer until it thickened. It actually took quit a while.....I kept tasting it and altering it until I had it the way I wanted. Do stir occasionally as you're waiting for it to thicken.

Now, you have a choice.....if you like the chunks of berries, then leave as is. Set aside and let cool. Oooor, you can strain the syrup to remove the berry chunks and seeds. See?

And the Strawberry said to the Balsamic Vinegar, "YOU complete me!!"

ok ok....now for these pancakes. Like I said, the only thing I changed in the recipe was the ricotta to sour cream. I do plan on using the ricotta cheese as intended, someday. But I think I would omit the cinnamon and nutmeg. Not that I have anything at all against the two, cuz I totally love them. The flavor really makes these pancakes seem so special....like.....Christmas morning special. And.....well, its not Christmas and I like the idea of something a little more fresh...summer fresh, you know? Sooo, lets get on with the recipe and I'll tell ya more when we're done:

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon sugar

2 eggs, separated 

2/3 cup milk

zest from one lemon

juice from one lemon

In a medium sized bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks develop. 

In another medium bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Blend until just mixed, but don't over do it. Gently fold in the egg whites...

Don't over do the mixing here either cuz you don't want to break down the whites.

Ok...now I totally suck at making pancakes. Just cook these the same way you normally would any other pancake. They are on the soft side....be careful when you flip them. These are so light (must be those soft white peaks).....they remind me of foam, if that makes sense. And oh man...that lemon flavor! Now thats what totally hooked me here. So on one pancake I put my syrup...and on the other one, I squeezed a lemon on it. YA BABY!! Next time I just want that lemon flavor! Add a little butter to the pancake, squeeze a little lemon on it and shake a bit of powdered sugar and I'm in pancake heaven!

Cornbread with Jalapenos and Cheese

I've always loved cornbread. My grandmother made it from scratch. My mom made it from a mix. Either way, I loved it. I like it plain, I like it sweet...and I've even discovered over the years that I like it spicy! 

Do you know how simple it is to make? Do you know that there are only a couple more steps in the process to make from scratch then there is to make it from a mix? I mean come on....even if you buy that little white a blue box of Jiffy (I'm not saying its not good)...you STILL have to measure the milk, oil and crack an egg, right? So what if you made it from scratch and had to measure the dry ingredients? AND it came out better! huh? huh? Whats the big deal? Just do it...lol. (I think this is whats called peer pressure.)

I made a pot of chili for dinner tonight and thats what the cornbread went with. Once the chili was on the stove and simmering away, I had the perfect amount of time to make my cornbread. Everything was ready at the same time. Isn't that what we strive for? Oh and the reason I'm not blogging about my chili? I'm not a huge chili fan and therefore I don't think I make a chili worth sharing...LOL So I'll share my cornbread instead. This recipe has been altered and adjusted over the years. Sometimes I change it because of taste...other times, because of whats in the pantry. But...this is what I did tonight:

2 cups cornmeal (doesnt matter if its white or yellow)

2 tablespoons four

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup veggie oil

1/4 cup finely chopped jalapeno (I use the kind in a jar)

6 oz shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat your oven to 500' 

Grease a pan. I use a large iron skillet. 

In a large bowl, combine your dry ingredients: cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, baking soda. Mix thoroughly.

In a medium bowl combine the eggs, oil, buttermilk and jalapenos. Mix thoroughly

Now...add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir to combine. Add the cheese:

Pour the mixture into your pan:

Lower the oven temperature to 350' and bake until a nice golden brown on top, about 30 - 40 minutes. 

Serve warm, with butter and enjoy with your favorite bowl of chili (which I'm sure is much better than mine LOL).

Lemon Blueberry Buckle - Holy Moly!!

What is a buckle? and why do they call it that? It's like a coffee cake, with the streusel and all! Only it has blueberries and this one has fresh lemons!! YUM!!

Last week the L.A. Times Food Section was dedicated to blueberries and it just so happened that my local market had blueberries on sale!! I couldn't resist trying this incredible recipe that was listed in the Food Section for Lemon Blueberry Buckle. I read the ingredients and thats all that was needed!

First the Crumb Topping:

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

Zest of 1 lemon

1/4 cup butter, cubed, at room temperature

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest. Add the butter, using a fork or your fingers (I used my pastry cutter at first then finished with my fingers) to cut in the butter until its about the size of peas. 

Cover the bowl loosely and place it in the freezer until ready to use. 

Now for the cake part......

1 1/2 cups flour plus 2 tablespoons

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

zest of 1 lemon

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 cups blueberries (preferably fresh)

Preheat your oven to 350'. Lightly grease a 9" square pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg:

Can you smell that nutmeg? Oh man.....nothing like the scent of fresh ground nutmeg!

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy:

Not ready yet:

Almost but not quite:

(3 - 5 minutes later) Aaaaah...now you got it:

Add the eggs one at a time:

Make sure you scrape down the sides so that the eggs get fully incorporated with all of the mixture.

Now (put away the beaters and get out your spoon)...you're going to alternate adding the flour mixture and the buttermilk into the egg mixture bowl starting with 1/3 of the flour:

Keep mixing, it will smooth out.

Then add 1/3 of the buttermilk:

Mix until fully incorporated before adding more flour. 

Once all the flour and buttermilk have been added, gently fold in 1 cup of blueberries:

 

Spread the batter into your 9" greased pan. Distribute the remaining blueberries over the batter:

Then...sprinkle the crumb topping over the berries:

Bake in the oven until lightly golden and firm on top and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 50 minutes. (if needed, rotate pan halfway through for even baking).

Meanwhile........Lets make a lemon syrup!!! Oh yeah!

1/3 cup sugar

6 tablespoons lemon juice (about 2 lemons...use the ones you zested from)

In a small saucepan combine the sugar and lemon juice, whisking together until blended:

Heat the pan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring occasionally until thickened to a syrupy consistency (about 6 - 8 minutes). The glaze will get bubbly and may need to be removed from the heat so you can properly check the consistency. I had a bit of an issue with this process. While hot, it never got as thick as...say....maple syrup and I think I came close to scorching the syrup:

I tasted it and it was fine. So I removed it from the heat and set it aside in a warm place until the cake was done. It did thicken as it cooled.

Ok, now for the grand finale!!! Remove the cake from the oven (don't forget to do the toothpick test...it may need to cook a bit longer). Drizzle the warm glaze over the top of your cake:

Oh man! But wait. Not yet. Let it cool to room temperature. This way that glaze and the streusel get all crunchy-oozed together. Now THATS what I'm talking about!

You can keep the cake at room temperature for 2 - 3 days, covered with plastic. Ya right! As if it's going to last that long. I don't think mine survived 24 hrs.