Brussel sprout Chicken skillet

I had no clue what I was going to do for last night for dinner. All I know is I had made up some potato salad and figured it would go well with grilled marinated chicken... Except the only chicken I had in the freezer were whole birds, and the gas grill was out of propane. So, I asked my boyfriend to pick up chicken breasts on his way home from work -though by the time he got in, it was to late to do much with them (b/t/w, never send a hungry man to the grocery store). So, I just threw something together right quick, and it tasted fabulous. And, since I made it up, I'm naming it Brussel Sprout Chicken Skillet.

This is all I did:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Sprinkle 3-4 chicken breasts on both sides with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. Set aside.
Parboil some halved brussel sprouts for about a minute in salted water.
Heat up a cast iron skillet with bacon grease (approx. 3 tbsp.), and brown 1/2 a medium onion and 2 cloves of garlic in it.
Add the drained brussel sprouts to skillet. Cook/fry them up for 4-6 minutes.
Push brussel sprouts to sides of pan, and add chicken in the middle.
Sear chicken for 1-2 min. per side.
Place skillet in oven until chicken reaches 155 degrees internal temperature (20-30min.)
Rest chicken for 5 minutes before serving.

Good Reading #1

I'm currently reading 'Peanut Butter Parables: Lessons in Life and faith' by Guy Newton. It's a great book with really sweet anecdotes and touching reminders how God is always present in our lives -thick or thin. If you would like to read it or give it a try (which I highly suggest you do), please go here. It's not over bearing at all, just a light and pleasurable read. Not annoying like the Chicken Soup for the Soul books either -just down to earth real living and common sense.

My other reading right now includes re-reading Isaac Asimov's Foundation series for about the 50th time. I'm on book 4 of the series [Foundation and Earth], though no matter how many times I read his work, I am constantly amazed at his future vision and in love with his craftsmanship.

That's all for now! I'll keep you updated on more titles soon.

A snowed in Fiesta

Another foot of snow last night! I'm sure it seems like I'm beating a dead horse with all the snow updates, but statistically; we have already had more snow accumulation than all of last year -as of last week, and for every 2 days in January, it has snowed 1 of those days.... Besides, when the snow piles are the same height as the Jeep, it's to much damn snow in my opinion!

Clearly, all this snow means it's time for a fiesta. Tacos for dinner, fresh homemade guacamole for snacks, and Havana Holiday's for cocktails!

Guacamole in the makes:

Guacamole = yummy! And this is coming from the person who avoids California roles and Cobb salads just to avoid avocados! But after a strong convincing argument to retry avocados, I am in love with them. The one we had ripened perfectly, and melted like butter in my mouth. Plus, I found a FANTASTIC new Guacamole recipe found here. I cut it down as I only had one avocado, and substituted a frozen hot lemon pepper from last year's garden vs. the jalapeno called for. Finally, I found a worthy use for the hot lemon peppers!

The Havana Holiday is another amazing new recipe from something I formerly hated: Gin. The recipe for this wonderful breath of summer amidst banks of snow can be found here. I strongly suggest using the Tanqueray name brand as well.... It does make a difference.

Orange glazed Pork part duex, and local dairy farms

The Orange glazed pork roast came out great. It wasn't a "Wow!" meal by any means, but it will make a nice standard to add into the rotation.

Tonight's dinner is leftovers. Exciting, I know. However, between the mac and cheese, enchilada casserole, Chinese take-out, and pork roast, my fridge is getting much to crowded. It's such a shame too, because with the plethora of fresh produce and ingredients from yesterdays grocery delivery I want to cook!

Speaking of grocery deliveries, we have decided to start ordering our dairy from a local dairy delivery service in Rhode Island, Munroe Dairy. Not only is it great for supporting local businesses, it's 'more green' (as much as I hate using that phrase!), for they deliver the milk and whatnot in reusable glass bottles. Although I am slightly lactose intolerant, I use dairy in cooking constantly and the rest of the house does enjoy drinking it.

Well, I suppose I should go check the chickens and bunnies waters again, and bring in wood to start a fire. For only an inch of snow called for in the weather reports, it sure shows no sign of letting up. The snow has already reached its alleged accumulation, though it is a much 'warmer' 27 degrees out today.

Tragedy in Moscow

Please pray.

35 dead, and 145 injured at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport.

Country Fun #2

Sophie kitteh keeping warm by the fire:

The glass doors on the fireplace installed this year certainly make a huge difference in heat output and reducing our dependency on oil. As you can see, Sophie kitty sure is reaping the benefits! As this year was kind of a trial run with trying to heat primarily with wood [with the glass doors] -we are almost depleted of the 4 cords we started out with. If next year's like this, we'll need 6 cords!

Starting...

 

Currently...

Speaking of the cold, with these near zero temperatures another almost hourly chore appears; making sure that the poor chickens and bunnies water doesn't freeze!

 

Our weekend plans did not include ice fishing after all, but did still include fish... Norman, our 10" Comet Goldfish is quickly out growing his present 55 gallon fish tank

So, we got his new home on Saturday - a 125 gallon tank.

It's a horrible picture, but Sophie make her debut again, checking out the new  tank.

Pork loin roast with Orange glaze

 Hooray, it's finally reached 8 degrees outside! Quite an improvement from the -3 degrees that we woke up to! We didn't do our normal large Sunday dinner this weekend, as the pork loin roast took longer to thaw than anticipated... Thus, we'll just have a quiet relaxing dinner tonight while keeping warm by the fire instead! It's probably just as well, because I had extra time to think about how to prepare the roast. I found this recipe on About.com, and with a few additions it ought to make a tender flavorful pork loin.

Orange Glazed Pork Loins

Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

     2 pork tenderloins, about 3/4 to 1 pound each
     salt and pepper
     ---------------------------------------
     Glaze
     1 tablespoon olive oil
     1/4 cup onion in small dice
     2 cloves garlic, minced
     1/2 teaspoon dried leaf thyme
     1/3 cup orange juice concentrate
     1/3 cup light corn syrup
     1 tablespoon cider vinegar, or white vinegar
     1/4 teaspoon salt
     dash pepper

Preparation:
Heat oven to 375̊.

Trim excess fat from pork; place in a roasting pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a meat thermometer registers about 160̊ to 165̊ F. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add diced onion and garlic; sauté until tender. Add remaining glaze ingredients, increase heat, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 7 minutes. Set aside.

Spoon about half of the glaze over the pork tenderloins; roast for about 5 minutes longer.

To serve, let pork rest for 5 minutes, then slice.
Drizzle sliced pork tenderloin with remaining orange sauce.
Serves 4.

Now, my intentions for this recipe include searing the pork (in my lovely enameled cast iron covered casserole of course! What did I do with out it?), and adding a cheese cloth sachet with cinnamon sticks and star anise to the glaze (and maybe a spritz of lemon juice). It would also be wonderful if my Peapod grocery delivery service came early enough for me to prepare roasted potatoes, and a salad to go along with this meal. Otherwise, I'm planning baked sweet potatoes for accompaniment.

Parmesan Crisps Entree = Fail...

Well, I'm glad I decided to make the Parmesan Crisps now instead of before dinner. Thinking of using them as an entree was an epic fail... Although eating the 'failures' was a pleasure. They were much too small, and hard to form correctly! Thus my fall back plan: Paula Deen's Oven fried chicken. Super yummy, easy, and an almost guaranteed no-fail dinner. The Parm Crisps I was able to turn out will just end up what they were made for - hor derves. I chopped up tomatoes and dressed them with parsley, salt, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar for the filling, and laid a baby spinach leaf at the bottom.

Parmesan Crisps

I know that Parmesan Crisps are meant to be appetizers, however I am turning them into an ambitious dinner plan (more on that after the recipe)... I think they will add some light fun to dinner on another snowy day.  Yet another Alton Brown inspiration, and of course, super easy for a busy household....

Parmesan Crisps

3 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Freshly ground black pepper, smoked paprika, or cayenne, optional

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Grate cheese on the small hole side of a 4-sided box grater into a small bowl. 

Using a tablespoon measure, place cheese in mounds onto a nonstick silicone pad or greased parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. 

Flatten out mounds with the back of a spoon, making sure mounds are at least 4 inches apart. 

Season with pepper, paprika, or cayenne, if desired. 

Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 5 to 6 minutes or until golden.

Now, the fun part about this recipe from Mr. Brown that he does not recount in his instructions, is that once the Parmesan crisps come out of the oven they are still slightly malleable. This means, they can be hardened over common upturned objects creating a little bowl shaped Parmesan vessel! Nifty, huh? Thus, my ambitious dinner plan tonight is to make these little cheese cups and fill them with some julienne veggies with a bite size piece of fried chicken (or maybe the left over coconut curry chicken)... Lately I feel as though I am using the same ideas/recipes for chicken constantly, and think this is a great idea for something new! I reckon it's the same thing as just eating a lot of appetizers for dinner, but it will at least feel fun and taste nummy!


Speaking of running out of chicken recipes and ideas, please feel free to post a comment with your ideas or recipe links! I would definitely appreciate any and will post them myself after trying them out :)

Favorite Casserloes #2

If anyone happens to wonder, where is "Favorite Casseroles #1", it's named "The best Mac & Cheese in the world". I've decided to start my casserole recipes as a series now. I love casseroles, and I don't know how or why they seem to have fallen off to the way side. I made this one earlier in the week and it's one of this household's favorites: Enchilada Casserole. It's a neat fresh way of getting rid of the stigma that casseroles are bland and boring. Plus, it makes fantastic leftovers!
I got this recipe from "Mr. Food, Ooh-so-easy Recipe collection" but I changed a few things in order to make a smaller batch and to our tastes. Keep in mind, this 'smaller batch' feeds us twice.

Enchilada Casserole

1 lb. Ground Beef

1 medium Onion, chopped

1 can Tomato Sauce (8oz)

1 can Mexicorn, drained (11oz)

1 can Enchilada Sauce (10oz)

1/2 tsp Chili Powder

1/2 tsp dried Oregano

1/2 tsp Black Pepper

1/4 tsp Salt

4 Tortillas, 9" or 'burrito size' (corn or flour)

1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar Cheese, divided into halves

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook beef and onion in a large skillet until beef is browned (drain if you want).

Stir tomato sauce and the next 6 ingredients into the beef skillet. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook uncovered for 5min, stirring occasionally.

Grease a 9" X 13" baking dish, and place 2 of the tortillas on the bottom (they will overlap some).

Spoon 1/2 of the beef mixture on to the tortillas, and sprinkle one half of the cheddar cheese on top of beef mixture.

Place the last 2 tortillas on top of that, and repeat the beef and cheese layering.

Bake for 10min

Ice Fishing

In southern Massachusetts there is presently 10"-12" of ice on the ponds. Woo-hoo for ice fishing season! Ice fishing is about the only upside I can see for this cold snowy weather. This year we bought all of our own gear to have a good time on the ice:

I even have my own little jigging pole! This past weekend we went to go try it all out. We have a sitter for just 2 hours a week, which translates into about an hour of ice fishing. Most of your time is spent setting up; Drilling the holes, scooping the ice out of said holes, finding the depth to set the tip-up line, assembling, attaching bait, and setting the flags on the tip-ups, etc.,... It's not much work, and the set up really is part of the fun- I just don't deal well with the cold. It definitely helps bringing camp chairs, hot coffee, and blankets. This year I would like a chance to bring a little Webber grill out on the ice. We also still need to finish making our ice sled for the gear. That alone will cut down on a lot of setup time. Here's a few pics to enjoy from my first excursion this year...

Hopefully this weekend we'll actually catch something as we'll have a little more time. Though, looking at the upcoming temperatures this week.... There's just something about being outside on an open pond in 5 degree weather that I don't think will be a good idea. We'll see though!

The best Mac and Cheese in the world!

I've been dying to make this all week, but I had run out of shredded cheddar cheese. Now that the cheese supply is renewed, tonight is THE best Mac and Cheese you will ever have. Creamy, velvety, melt in your mouth, and easy as all get out to make. I got this recipe from my best friends boss back when I lived in Vegas. In the course of my multiple moves I thought I had lost this recipe forever, never to be enjoyed again.... So you can imagine how happy I was to have found it stuck in the back of my Better Homes and Garden Cook Book (you know the one -the red plaid bible of cooking)!  The anticipation is mounting to make and eat this, but it's way to early in the day to do so -seeing as start to finish it takes 35 min to make and bake. Thus I will spend my time now to share this recipe with y'all - I hope Casey doesn't mind!

CASEY'S MAC & CHEESE

1/2 cup Mayo
1 can Cream of Chicken soup [or Mushroom]
8oz Elbow Macaroni 
8oz  shredded Cheddar Cheese
Ritz Crackers -Honey Butter flavour if you can find them

Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Cook macaroni, drain
Combine Mayo, Cheese, and Soup in a large bowl
Add macaroni to cheese mixture, stirring until thoroughly integrated
Pour into a 9" X 14" pan
Taking the crackers, crumble them in your hands to evenly cover the top of the casserole
Place in oven for 25 min.

CrockPot Coconut Curry Chicken

Tonight's dinner is Coconut Curry Chicken done in the crock pot. If the sauce is any indication it is going to be so yummy! The idea for this recipe came to me right before falling asleep last night, and thanks to the wonders of the internet, there was an actual recipe for it! I intend to serve it over rice, and I also omitted the carrots as no one in the house will eat them cooked.Oh, and it's also an excuse for me to use my new rice maker for the first time!

CrockPot Coconut Curry Chicken

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil 

4 boneless skinless chicken breast half 

8 oz. red potato, peeled and chopped 

2 large carrots peeled and chopped 

1 medium onion, sliced 

1 (14 ounce) can light coconut milk 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/2 teaspoon black pepper 

1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder (or to taste) 

1 teaspoon hot sauce (optional, more if desired) 

1 cup chicken stock 

1 (10 ounce) package frozen peas, thawed

 Directions:

1 Heat oil in a medium fry pan.
2 Add chicken breasts and brown on both sides.
3 Place potatoes, carrots, and onion in crock pot.
4 Place chicken breasts on top.
5 Combine coconut milk, salt, pepper, curry powder, hot sauce and chicken broth in a bowl and stir thoroughly.
6 Add to crock pot.
7 Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours.
8 One half hour before serving, add peas on top of chicken mixture.
9 Just before serving, stir mixture thoroughly

a week in meals

Ok, I've been slacking on posts... Here's a quick review of this weeks past meals best I can recall:

Deli meat and veggie platters for a family get-together... and varied desserts of course!

Chicken Parmesan, salad, green beans, and garlic toast

Sloppy Joes.

Cod fish fillets grilled in a foil packet with lemon, dill, garlic, onions, and bell peppers.

Pizza order out night!

Lamb atop couscous, stuffed mushrooms, and cranberry relish.

Chourico and Peppers (done in crockpot).

Grilled chicken (marinated in Newman's Own 'Family Recipe Italian' dressing), served alongside 3 cheese stuffed tortellini with sauteed veggies (broccoli, onion, green bell pepper, mushrooms, and dried cayenne pepper flakes) tossed with the same Newman's Dressing.

The lamb meal and the tortellini side were by far the best this week. As you can see, I try to rotate the use of different proteins in order to keep things fresh and balanced.

Egg production and canned goods planning

Hooray! The chickens have pretty much ended their molting and we are getting 2 eggs a day reliably now -sometimes 3! During their molting, we were lucky to get 2 eggs a week from 7 layer hens... Although our rooster (named 'Duck') hasn't regrown his beautiful iridescent green tail feathers back, they all seem a lot happier, and I am happy for the increasing egg supply. Pretty soon I may be able to put the "fresh eggs" sign back out on the lawn.
Otherwise, life is pretty normal. Another snow storm is predicted for Wednesday, and is supposed to bring us 10 more inches of snow on top of the 4" still left on the ground. For a treat we did buy new ice fishing gear this weekend, but that's for another post. I also used up all but one jar of the tomatoes as well as the jalapenos I canned from our garden this summer. I canned 19 (12oz) jars from the tomato harvest, and only about 7 (6oz jars) of jalapenos. This is a good way for me to estimate how much I will need to jar next year though. On average, we go through 5 jars a month of tomatoes. Thus, I will have to can around 30-40 jars this year in order to make it a year round supply. The jalapenos I can eat day in and day out, so I plan to do more plants and larger jars this year. I also hope to attempt making my own tomato paste this year, but it may be to ambitious for the size of our garden. Last year we had 13 tomato plants, but only certain varieties were good producers. We had around 3 plants of 4 different varieties. I found -by far- the best canning tomatoes were of the Plum or Roma types, so I will plant mostly those this year. The orange tomatoes also canned very well, but didn't produce much. Their taste in cooking is much too sweet in recipes where you want or need the acidity of red tomatoes, but are a nice novelty. 

Home alone...

Finally! I had the house all to myself today for the first time in months... Everyone in the house is back to their 'normal' schedules and the days are mine again. Its amazing how easy it is to get small projects out of the way without having to worry about distractions! So today I was able to completely start and finish staining our new TV stand. It will still need a clear coat, but the staining is out of the way. The stand also came from the Mill Stores, but it was easier (and cheaper) to finish myself.

Tonight's dinner plan is Chicken Parmesan with garlic bread, green beans, and a garden salad for sides. Though it is nice having everyone out of the house, I will miss real grocery shopping. Back to online orders for grocery deliveries through Peapod.

New Years Eve dinner

To bring in 2011, we cooked Filet Mignon with a cognac dijon sauce and Mussels Mariniere with Bacon Frisee salad. The salad was a little over rated and the Filets weren't top choice, but the mussels were divine!

Mussels Mariniere:


1 tbsp. Olive oil
1 tbsp. Butter
1 medium onion, chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, crushed with press
1 cup dry white wine (I used a Chardonnay)
3 lbs. mussels, washed well and debearded
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped fine


In a sauce pot you will be able to cover, heat up oil and butter. Once that has melted, add onion and garlic sauteing until almost translucent. Add wine and bring to a boil. Then add mussels, stir once, cover, and cook 1 minute. Stir again, cover, and cook 1-2 minutes longer or until mussels have opened. Top the mussels with the parsley right before serving.