A Valentines Day Dinner

Last night I treated the family to one of my favorites! Chicken French with arugula and orzo!

I love Rao's Shrimp Francese recipe and just swapped out chicken for shrimp




* 2 large chick breasts pounded flat cut in half
* 1-1/2 cups flour
* 1 cup dry white wine
* Juice of 1-1/2 lemons
* 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1 cup vegetable oil
* 4 large eggs
* ¼ cup grated Romano cheese
* 2 teaspoons minced Italian parsley
* Additional chopped parsley for garnish

Whisk eggs, cheese, parsley, salt and pepper until well blended. Dredge chicken in flour and dip into egg mixture, and dredge in flour again.

Heat oil over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, place chicken in pan, open side down. Brown shrimp on each side. Remove cooked chicken to a warm serving platter.

Drain off excess oil. Add wine, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and add 2 tablespoons butter. Raise heat and whisk in remaining butter until sauce has thickened. Pour sauce over chicken. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and squeeze lemon juice over chicken.

I served mine on a bed of arugula with a side of orzo!

enjoy!

breakfast treats....

it has been awhile since I shared a recipe so I thought I would share one of our favorite breakfast goodies that our neighbor introduced us to - also makes a great afterschool snack...

cream cheese & jelly paninnis!



heat up a skillet or if you have a george foreman we love to grill ours!

2 slices of bread, cream cheese (we use strawberry or cranberry orange) & your favorite jam or jelly.

butter the outside of the bread slices, spread cream cheese on the inside of both slices and spread a spoonful of jam between the slices - grill until golden!




let cool a bit before you enjoy!

sometimes for a special treat I get fancy and use my pampered chef circle cutter!

Tasty Tuesday ....

thought I would share a dinner idea with you that we tried last night to much success.

We set up a baked potato bar and each person got to choose their own topping for a tasty baked potato!



some of the toppings we tried included...

chili
shredded cheese
melted cheese
broccoli
asparagus
stir-fried pork
sour cream
bacon
salsa



all in all it was a huge hit - a little something for everyone! What else would you add for toppings??

Love me my Sweet Potatoes!

with a bounty of sweet potatoes available right now I thought I would share a favorite sweet potato salad with you...something surprisingly different. Sweet and tangy with a delicious bite of ginger. Originally from Martha Stewart's Everydayfood magazine

I am able to find all of the ingredients at our local farmers market for one stop shopping!



Serves 4

* 2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch chunks
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 teaspoon coarse salt
* 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
* 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
* 1 tablespoon oil
* 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
* 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
* 3 scallions, thinly sliced crosswise

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On a nonstick rimmed baking sheet, toss sweet potatoes with olive oil, coarse salt, and ground pepper; roast until fork-tender, about 35 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together fresh orange juice, oil, minced fresh ginger, and 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard.
3. Add scallions and potatoes; toss to coat with dressing. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Serve warm, cold, or at room temperature.


enjoy!

What's for Dinner tonight??

with fall in the air it is time for roasting vegetables! My sister and I headed to the local public market yesterday to scoop up some of falls best bounty...



I picked out some yummy delicata squash and sweet potatoes for roasted veggies for dinner.... this is how I prepared it!



cut off ends of squash, slice in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds and slice into 1/2" thick slices





slice the sweet potato into thick sticks ... keep skin on for added nutritional value!



toss in a bowl with onion slices and season to taste with olive oil, salt, ground cumin and curry powder



place in pan - try to keep it to 1-2 layers high... roast at 350 degrees until tender - about 45 minutes



enjoy!!!

Tasteful Tuesday returns....

in time for all of your 4th of July picnic celebrations I thought I would share one of our favorite and not quite traditional picnic salads! This has gotten quite a few thumbs up from family & friends!

This is taken from Moosewood Restaurant Lowfat Favorites.


Moosewood is a famous vegetarian restaurant in Ithaca, NY and this cookbook would be a great addition to any cookbook collection! I have changed the recipe from the cookbook version to fit with my families tastes but will note the alternate additions the author suggests.

Sushi Rice Salad serves 4-6 as a main course
(The way I make it I like to call it a deconstructed california roll! I double this recipe and it will serve 20 as a side salad.)

1C brown rice
1 3/4C water

SAUCE
1/3C rice vinegar
2T sugar
1t salt
2t fresh grated ginger root

1 large cucumber peeled, seeded, diced
1 ripe avocado (not too mushy) peeled & diced
1/2 package surimi (imitation crab meat)roughly chopped
1-2t wasabi powder dissolved in an equal amount of cold water
1 sheet nori seaweed
1T black or brown seasame seeds


Combine rice and water in saucepan, bring to boil. Stir, cover, reduce heat and cook until rice is tender 40-45 min (or cook rice in your rice cooker)

Combine sauce ingredients in seperate small saucepan, simmer 5 min, remove from heat.

In serving bowl combine vegetables, surimi and sauce. Mix in wasabi paste. Add cooked rice, mix well. Toast the sheet of nori by baking for a 1+ minute at 300 degrees, then crumble on top of rice mixture. Toast seasame seeds and sprinkle on top for garnish.

Note - you may also add blanched vegetables such as diced carrot or red pepper. May be served on a bed of greens if serving as a main course salad. may garnish with slices of pickled ginger also.

Much easier than trying to roll your own sushi with a bamboo mat - believe me we have tried! But still offers the mix of tastes and textured that you get in a california roll.

Enjoy!

Soups On for Tasty Tuesday!

In the spirit of spring and fresh crops of rhubarb popping up everywhere I am sharing a favorite spring recipe of mine for Parsnip, Rhubarb & Ginger Soup!

This recipe is taken from New Covent Garden Soup Company's Soup & Beyond Cookbook




We picked this book up on a trip to London about 10 years ago and it remains one of my favorite cookbooks! This recipe was the creation of a retired tropical agriculturalist from England - Robert Austin. It was the winner in the 1998 "Create a Soup Contest" in the Daily Telegraph. One of the judges declared "Rhubarb and ginger is a classic combination in cooking, but blending this with parsnips to make a savoury soup is ingenious. The rhubarb really cuts through the sweetness of the parsnips and the result is both unusual and delicious!"



Serves 4 Prep Time ~ about 30 minutes

2oz butter
1 lb parsnips - peeled & roughly chopped
8oz rhubarb - washed and sliced
1 medium onion - finely sliced
2tsp fresh grated ginger
1T flour
1.5 pints chicken stock
2t. brown sugar
salt & pepper to taste

Melt butter & cook the parsnips, rhubarb, onion & ginger for 5 minutes in covered saucepan without coloring,

Add flour - stir well

Add stock & sugar - taste for seasoning - bring to boil stirring constantly

lower heat & simmer about 15min until vegetables are tender

cool a bit then puree in a blender until very smooth

adjust seasoning, reheat & garnish with chopped parsley

Smacznego!

It's Time for Tasty Tuesday!

I am trying to find some direction & focus for my blog and thought I might try adding a Tasty Tuesday post! Sharing a favorite meal, wine, dessert, beer...you name it! Anything tasty!

Last night we had a delicious dinner that was a hit all around so I thought I would share the recipe.

For the main course I altered a favorite shrimp dish to make it with chicken. Taken from one of my favorite cookbooks - Rao's Cookbook

I am pleased to present my spin on Chicken French!

3 whole(2-part) chicken breasts - pound thin
1.5 C flour
seasoned egg batter (see below)
1/2 - 1C veg oil
1C dry white wine
juice 1.5 lemons
salt & pepper to taste
6T butter
3T chopped parsley

*****seasoned egg batter ****
4 large eggs, 1/4C pecorino romano cheese, 2t parsley, slat & pepper to taste
in a small bowl whisk eggs, cheese, parsley, salt& pepper



Directions

1. dredge each pounded chicken breast in flour then in seasoned egg batter. allow excess batter to drip off then dredge in flour again - set aside.



2. Heat oil in large pan over medium high heat. When oil is hot place chicken in single layer (repeat if necessary)brown each side until chicken reaches internal temp of 165

3. After last batch of chicken has cooked and is still in pan drain excess oil

4. return pan to heat, add wine, lemon juice, salt & pepper bring to boil and add 2T butter - remove chicken to platter - raise heat and whisk in remaining butter. When sauce has thickened pour over chicken garnish with parsley and serve.



we served this with pasta tossed with a dash of olive oil, fresh tomato, fresh basil & herbed feta.



We served this with a nicely chilled glass of Tisdale Chardonnay - one of my favorite whites for summer - an unoaked chardonnay that is light and fruity for summer drinking.



Smacznego!

Mmmmmm....

my folks are having a big bash this afternoon & I have volunteered to bring one of my favorite side salads....I am not a fan of potatoes but I LOVE yams & sweet potatoes and I love Martha Stewart's magazine...EVERYDAY FOOD. This is a delicious twist on a potato salad...



find the recipe here

Preparing for our first foray into.........CSA - Community Supported Agriculture

I am so excited for tomorrow! We have purchased a share in a local farm and will be receiving our first delivery of locally grown , fresh produce tomorrow afternoon!

The list of goodies for June includes: Arugula, , beets, radishes, Swiss chard, salad-mix, spinach, turnips, parsley, sugar snap-peas, zucchini, cilantro, dill, basil, green beans, scallions....

I am hoping this will get my kids to eat more vegetables and to try new varieties! If any of you faithful readers have any tasty recipes using these veggies & herbs I would LOVE to have them!

I am also investigating another local CSA for fruit! They are reported to grow gooseberries



which I fell in love with when we lived in Poland but have had a very hard time finding locally....

well, I am off to peruse some cook books & have lunch with my kids at school...enjoy the day!