Dinner | onedadskitchen

Keeping it Simple Again – Pan-Roasted Chicken Breasts

I find I do not make a lot boneless chicken breast dinners anymore. Actually, I shouldn’t say that; I don’t actually buy a lot of boneless chicken breasts anymore. The problem is that the boneless breasts often cost a lot more money then bone-in chicken breasts and you can just as easily cut the meat off the bone and make your own boneless breasts to cook and then you still have the option of keeping the skin on to get crispy flavor and you can use the bones, roast them with some salt and pepper and use them to make some tasty chicken stock for another use. I was able to get a family pack of bone-in chicken breasts for about $6.00 the other day and it gave me 5 large chicken breasts that I took off the bone and did just that with and we got many meals out of that six dollars. I went back and bought another package and made some of the chicken breasts using this simple pan roasting recipe from America’s Test Kitchen that was quick and easy and made a great little sauce to flavor the chicken along the way.

Pan-Roasted Chicken Breasts

4 (10-12-ounce) bone-in split chicken breasts, trimmed and brined if desired

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 shallot, minced

3/4 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup dry vermouth

4 large fresh sage leaves, each leaf torn in half

3 tablespoons butter, cut into 3 pieces and chilled

Using kitchen shears, trim off the rib section from the chicken breasts. If you are brining the chicken, dissolve 1 cup of kosher salt in 2 quarts of cold tap water in a large container or bowl; submerge the chicken in the brine and refrigerate it until it is fully seasoned, about 30 minutes. Rinse the chicken pieces under running water and pat them dry with paper towels. Season the chicken with pepper.

Adjust an oven rack to lowest position and heat the oven to 450 degrees.

Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat until it is beginning to smoke; swirl the skillet to coat it with oil. Brown the chicken skin-side down until it is deep golden, about 5 minutes; turn the chicken pieces and brown them until they are golden on the second side, about 3 minutes longer. Turn the chicken skin-side down and place the skillet in the oven. Roast the chicken until the juices run clear when the chicken is cut with a paring knife, or the thickest part of the breast registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a platter, and let it rest while making the sauce. (If you are not making the sauce, let the chicken rest 5 minutes before serving.)

Using a pot-holder to protect your hands from the hot skillet handle, pour off most of the fat from the skillet; add the shallot, then set the skillet over medium-high heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the shallot is softened, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add the chicken broth, vermouth, and sage leaves; increase the heat to high and simmer the mixture rapidly, scraping the skillet bottom with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits, until the sauce is slightly thickened and reduced to about 3/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Pour the accumulated chicken juices into the skillet, reduce the heat to medium, and whisk in the butter 1 piece at a time; season to taste with salt and pepper and discard the sage leaves. Spoon the sauce around the chicken breasts and serve immediately.

That’s all there is to it. You can have tender, moist chicken with a nice crispy skin and make a great little sauce all in under 30 minutes. The brining does add some extra seasoning and helps to make the chicken moist but it is not a must for this recipe at all. We all really liked the simple sauce which had nice flavor from the sage and vermouth and if you didn’t want the bones in this one you could remove all the bones when you are cutting out the rib section. It was an easy, flavorful dish perfect for a weeknight dinner.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on April 16, 2014 in Cooking, Dinner, Poultry, Sauce

Tags: America's Test Kitchen pan-roasted chicken breasts, chicken breasts, pan roasted bone-in chicken breasts, pan-roasted chicken breasts, sage-vermouth sauce

Spice Up your Weeknight – Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Carrots

15 Apr

Pork tenderloin is a great choice for a weeknight meal when you want something that seems a little more elegant and fancy and can still be done in under 45 minutes or even thirty minutes. I usually but tenderloin when it is on sale and since they come in a package of two tenderloins I freeze one and make one for dinner so I can always pull one out to have for a meal. There are lots of great things you can do with the tenderloin – roasting, grilling, pan roasting, cutting it into medallions, cutting it up for a stir fry – but I really liked this option of adding some nice spices to the tenderloin and roasting it with some carrots for a nice meal. This recipe comes from Bon Appetit and is for a spice-rubbed pork tenderloin with roasted carrots.

Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Carrots

For the Carrots:

2 pounds carrots, peeled, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter, diced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 small jalapeño (preferably red), seeded, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon ancho chile powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

For the Pork Tenderloin

2 1- to 1-1/4-pound pork tenderloins
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

For the carrots: Arrange the carrots on a large rimmed baking sheet. Whisk 2 tablespoons of water and all of the remaining ingredients in a small bowl; pour the mixture over the carrots and toss to coat. Cover the carrots tightly with heavy-duty foil.

For the pork tenderloin: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Roast the carrot mixture covered until the carrots are just tender, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, arrange the pork tenderloins on another rimmed baking sheet. Stir the oregano, cumin, chile powder, smoked paprika, and 1 teaspoon of coarse salt in a small bowl; rub the mixture all over the tenderloins. Heat the olive oil in a heavy, large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork to the skillet and cook until the pork is browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Return the pork to the rimmed baking sheet.

Remove the foil from the carrots. Nestle the pork among the carrots on the baking sheet, arranging the carrots in a single layer around the pork. Roast uncovered until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the pork registers 145°F, stirring the carrots occasionally if they are beginning to caramelize, about 18 minutes. Let the pork rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

Transfer the pork to a work surface. Cut the pork crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Arrange the carrots on the platter. Top the carrots with pork slices, drizzling any pan juices over the pork.

It is a very simple dish that gets great flavor from all of the spices used on the pork. You get a little bit of heat from the chile powder used on the carrots and pork and little bit of sweet from the sweetness of the carrots and the honey in the glaze. The original recipe calls for the use of whole baby carrots, which would work really well here, but I didn’t have any on hand and just went with carrots instead. Also, I only made one pork tenderloin instead of two so I did cut back on the recipe a bit for just one so it was not overloaded with spice. In either case, it is a great meal that can be ready and on the table in under and hour.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on April 15, 2014 in Cooking, Dinner, Pork, Vegetables

Tags: bon appetit, pork tenderloin, roasted carrots, spice-rubbed pork tenderloin, spice-rubbed pork tenderloin with roasted carrots

Let’s Roast Another Chicken! Cast-Iron Skillet Roasted Chicken

09 Apr

I know, I roast a lot of chicken, but you can get a lot of mileage out of one 4-pound chicken for a family of three. We get at least one dinner, sometimes two out of the chicken, sandwiches for lunch once or twice and then I take the bones and make chicken stock so we can get even more out of it. All in all, one 4 pound chicken that might cost five or six dollars is good for 6 or 7 meals, so we certainly get out money’s worth from it. This recipe, which I got from The Daily Meal, is even better for a couple of reasons. It is a one pot meal that does potatoes and Brussels sprouts with the chicken and it is in a cast-iron skillet, which is one of my favorites to cook with since they are so versatile and hold the heat so well. The original recipe for this use 2 small game hens, but I opted to go with 1 larger chicken instead.

Cast-Iron Skillet Roasted Chicken

1 3-4 pound chicken, rinsed and patted dry

1/2 pound fingerling potatoes, scrubbed

1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved

3 strips bacon, chopped

3 cloves garlic, sliced thin

1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons herbes de Provence

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 lemon

1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees with the cast-iron skillet in the oven while it is pre-heating.

Place the chicken on a large plate and coat the skin with 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt Place the chicken in the refrigerator, uncovered, and leave it there for 1 hour. Prior to cooking, remove the chicken from the refrigerator and thoroughly rinse the chicken with water and pat the chicken dry. Cut the skin between the legs of the chicken and gently disjoint the legs so that they lie flat on wither side of the body of the chicken.

Rub the olive oil all over the chicken to coat it and then sprinkle on the herbes de Provence and sprinkle some of the herbs inside the chicken as well. Sprinkle the top of the chicken with pepper. Take the 1/2 a lemon and place it inside the cavity of the chicken.

Pierce the fingerling potatoes with a fork, toss them into a medium bowl with about 1/2 an inch of water and cook the potatoes for 2 minutes on high in the microwave.

Remove the cast-iron skillet from the oven and drop the bacon pieces onto 1/2 of the pan. Place the chicken, breast side up, on the other half of the skillet. Make sure to place the legs and thighs flat against the bottom of the pan. Put the skillet back into the oven and cook for 15 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and add the fingerling potatoes, the garlic slices and the Brussels sprouts over the half of the pan with the bacon slices. Toss the potatoes and Brussels sprouts with the bacon pieces to coat them in some of the fat. Return the skillet to oven and continue roasting for about 20 to 25 minutes longer, or until the juices from the legs and thighs run clear when pierced with a fork. Remove the chicken and let it rest for 10 minutes before carving. Place the vegetables around the chicken on a platter and serve.

Salting the chicken for an hour ahead of time in the refrigerator helps to dry out the skin to make it nice and crunchy. This recipe roasts the chicken at a really high temperature so it does not take as long to cook as it normally might and everything gets nice and crispy, including the potatoes and Brussels sprouts. This recipe turned out quite well and of course it is great when you can make everything all in one pot to make things even easier for you for serving and clean-up. It’s a good way to get a nice roasted chicken on the table during a busy weeknight.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. As always, I am always trying new things out (today I am trying my hand at making homemade challah bread), so there is always lots to share. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on April 9, 2014 in Cooking, Dinner, One Pot Meals, Poultry

Tags: Brussels sprouts, cast-iron skillet roasted chicken, fingerling potatoes, one pot meal, roasted chicken recipe, skillet roasted chicken with Brussels sprouts and fingerling potatoes, The Daily Meal

Cook’s Country Steak Tips with Tomatillo Salsa and Refried Black Beans

08 Apr

I look forward to getting Cook’s Country in the mails every two months more than any other magazine. They always have great recipes to try and most of them are really easy to make and give you meals with great flavor in no time at all. When I got the April?May edition of the magazine recently I saw a bunch of recipes that I immediately wanted to try out but I figured I would give this one a try first. It os for steak tips with tomatillo salsa and refried black beans. It is very simple and elegant and has all kinds of great tastes going on.

Steak Tips with Tomatillo Salsa and Refried Black Beans

1 pound tomatillos, husks and stems removed, rinsed, dried and halved

2 jalapeno chiles, stemmed, seeded, and minced

1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro

2 garlic cloves, minced

Salt and pepper

1 1/2 pounds sirloin steak tips, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped fine

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed

Pulse the tomatillos in a food processor until they are coarsely chopped, about 8 pulses. Transfer the tomatillos to a fine mesh sieve set over a bowl and allow them to drain for about 5 minutes. Reserve 3/4 of a cup of the tomatillo liquid. Combine half of the jalapenos, 1/4 cup of the cilantro, half of the minced garlic, the drained tomatillos and 1/4 cup of the reserved tomatillo liquid in a bowl. Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste and set it aside.

Pat the steak tips dry with paper towels and season the steak tips with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil on a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until it is just smoking. Cook the steak until it is browned all over and the meat registers 125 degrees (for medium-rare) on an instant read thermometer, about 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the meat to a plate and tent it loosely with aluminum foil. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and the onion to the now-empty skillet and cook over medium heat until the onion is just softened, about 2 minutes. Add the cumin, the remaining jalapeno and the remaining garlic and cook until it is pregnant, about 30 seconds. Add the black beans and the remaining 1/2 cup of the reserved tomatillo liquid. Using a potato masher, coarsely mash the beans. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1/4 cup of cilantro. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve the steak with the beans and tomatillo salsa.

I really loved the flavor of the tomatillo salsa and the black beans were a perfect complement to the steak tips. Everything had great taste thanks to the tomatillos and since there are only a few ingredients in this meal you can get everything done in under 30 minutes. You could certainly use another cut of meat if you did not have sirloin steak tips. I think you could cut up a London broil or other steak and it will work just fine with this meal. Either way, it’s a good quick meal to make during the week when you need something fast. Serve it with a side salad and you are good to go. As you can see from the picture, this is before I added the tomatillo salsa, which I actually served on the side of the steak and beans because Sean wasn’t too thrilled with the salsa. He thought it was too spicy, but I think it was just fine.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on April 8, 2014 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Sauce, Side Dishes

Tags: black beans, Cook's Country, Cook's Country steak tips with tomatillo salsa and refriedblack beans, refried black beans, steak rips with tomatillo salsa and refried black beans, steak tips, tomatillo salsa

A Simple Snack or Meal – Fried Shrimp with Homemade Cocktail Sauce

06 Apr

I love to make shrimp and now that Sean has a good appreciation for it as well since he has gotten older, we have it a little more frequently than we did in the past. Of course, Sean’s favorite way to have it is as fried shrimp. I don’t often make it this way because I try to stay away from doing too much frying these days, but every once in a while I do have to indulge him and make some nice, crispy fried shrimp. It is very easy to do only they only take a minute or two to make and will test better than any of the things you can buy in the grocer’s freezer that are already breaded and ready to be cooked. This recipe is sort of combination of recipes I got from Food Network and Williams-Sonoma, and you can certainly convert it into oven frying if you want to go that way instead. I also made an easy cocktail sauce to go along with it.

Fried Shrimp and Cocktail Sauce

For the Cocktail Sauce:

1 cup ketchup or chili sauce

2 tablespoons drained, prepared horseradish

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Hot sauce (optional)

For the Shrimp:

1 1/4 cups panko or other dried bread crumbs

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

2 eggs

1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Vegetable oil, for frying

To make the cocktail sauce, in a small bowl stir together the chili sauce or ketchup, the horseradish, lemon zest and lemon juice until blended. Season the sauce with hot sauce, if desired. Set the sauce aside.

For the shrimp, heat about 2 inches of the vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed pot, Dutch oven or large cast-iron skillet over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 350 degrees. Meanwhile, in a large bowl stir together the bread crumbs, paprika, basil, oregano, thyme garlic, salt and cayenne pepper. In a separate shallow bowl whisk together the all-purpose flour and the cornstarch. Finally, in a third shallow bowl whisk the eggs.

Working in batches, dredge the shrimp in the flour mixture, shaking off any excess, then sip the shrimp in the egg mixture, again shaking off any excess, and then dip the shrimp in the bread crumb mixture, turning the shrimp to form a thick crust. Fry the shrimp in the hot oil until it is lightly golden, about 1 to 2 minutes total, adjusting the heat as necessary to maintain the oil temperature. Transfer the shrimp to a paper towel-lined plate with a slotted spoon and continue frying the shrimp until it is all fried.

Transfer the cocktail sauce to individual bowls for dipping and serve the shrimp.

These shrimp turn out with a great coating that has really good flavor and crunch when they are done. You want to be careful not to overcook the shrimp and burn the coating or make the shrimp rubbery. They only need a minute or two at the most to get really golden brown. These are great as an appetizer for a party or to serve on a buffet just as well as you can make them for dinner. The cocktail sauce is also very easy and will stay stored in the fridge so you can use it with other fish meals or instead of regular ketchup.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for some more great recipes. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on April 6, 2014 in Appetizers, Cooking, Dinner, Seafood

Tags: cocktail sauce, fried shrimp, fried shrimp and cocktail sauce, fried shrimp recipe, homemade cocktail sauce

Keep it Simple with Salt and Pepper Chicken

03 Apr

Instead of going through the effort to roast a whole chicken sometimes, you can get just as much mileage out of roasting up some bone-in chicken breasts. you can get all the white meat that you want and much better flavor thanks to the skin and bones than just making some boneless chicken breasts. I like to buy the big value packs of bone-in breasts when they are on sale, cut the breasts in half and roast them simply, using this east recipe I got from Williams-Sonoma. This way you can get a great meal out of it for dinner that night and then have plenty leftover for other meals. This one is really simple that you can do any night of the week or on a Sunday night and end up with a week’s worth of meals.

Salt and Pepper Chicken

6 bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves, about 4 pounds total, cut in half
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, sage or tarragon
2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into cubes

Preheat an oven to 400°F.

Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper on top of and under the skin. Place the chicken, skin side up, in a large roasting pan. Roast until the chicken is golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of each breast registers 170°F, about 45 minutes.

Transfer 4 chicken breast halves to a serving platter and reserve the remaining 2 for another use.

Place the roasting pan on a stovetop over high heat. When the roasting pan sizzles, add the broth and thyme (or other herbs) and stir to scrape up the browned bits from the pan bottom. Boil the mixture until the broth is reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Whisk the butter, a couple of pieces at a time, into the reduced liquid. Season the sauce with salt and pepper. Serve the chicken, passing the sauce at the table.

It’s a very simple dish that you can make with just about side dishes that you want and it can come out elegant. These are great with mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, any kind of rice, polenta and any vegetable that you feel like making. The best part is that the leftover chicken is perfect for you to use for other meals. You can make chicken salad sandwiches, shred some chicken for pulled chicken sliders or chicken tacos or use some of the chicken to make some chicken noodle soup or other chicken soups. There are lots of great things that you can do to get several meals out of the leftovers to really stretch your budget.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. I still have lots of different things to share that I have been trying out lately. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

4 Comments

Posted by MikeG on April 3, 2014 in Cooking, Dinner, Leftovers, Poultry

Tags: bone-in chicken breasts, chicken breast halves, chicken breasts, easy roasted chicken breasts, leftover chicken, roasted chicken breasts, salt and pepper chicken, williams-sonoma

Enjoy Those Spring Vegetables – Awesome Asparagus Soup

01 Apr

We love asparagus in our household so it is great when it is in season and you can get lost of it at a really good price around here. It has such great flavor and there are so many different recipes you can make with it (we love it roasted; if you haven’t tried it that way, give it a shot). Couple the spring asparagus with the ridiculous cold weather we still have here in New York, and it seemed like a great time to make this great soup recipe I picked up from the food network. This recipe also makes some Parmesan breadcrumbs, which I did not make, but they sound pretty good to me. I opted to make some biscuits instead, but you could just as easily do the breadcrumbs.

Asparagus Soup:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, minced
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
3 bunches pencil asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup thawed, frozen peas or 1 cup shelled fresh English peas (about 1 pound unshelled)
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 cups lightly packed baby spinach

For the Parmesan Breadcrumbs:
Four 1/8-inch slices day-old sourdough bread (about 3 ounces)
Olive oil, for drizzling
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
One 3-ounce wedge Parmesan

Garnishes for the Soup:
Creme fraiche
Finely chopped fresh chives
Fresh cilantro leaves
Lime wedges
Asparagus tips
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

For the soup: In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, bring the oil to medium heat. Add the shallot and salt and pepper to taste. Sweat the shallots until they are translucent, about 1 minute, being careful not to brown them. Add the asparagus to the pot and sweat the asparagus until it is beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the peas and sweat for another minute. Pour in the white wine and deglaze the pot. Add 5 cups of water and continue simmering until the asparagus are crisp-tender, about another 10 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and set it aside.

Working in batches (and carefully as the liquid will be hot), puree the soup until it is smooth in a blender. In the last batch, add the baby spinach and puree; this will give the soup a vibrant green color. Strain the soup back into the pot through a fine mesh sieve. Return the soup to a simmer until it is slightly thickened, about 4 to 6 minutes. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste. Remove the soup from the heat.

For the Parmesan breadcrumbs: While the soup simmers, pulse the bread in a food processor until you have very coarse crumbs. Once processed, transfer the breadcrumbs to a medium mixing bowl. Drizzle the breadcrumbs with a generous amount of olive oil. Toss the breadcrumbs with the thyme. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Transfer the breadcrumbs to a parchment-lined sheet tray. Using a grater, finely grate a few tablespoons of Parmesan over the breadcrumbs. Place the breadcrumbs into the oven and bake until they are golden and crispy, about 7 to 10 minutes. Remove the breadcrumbs from the oven and cool.

To serve: Ladle the soup into shallow serving bowls. Sprinkle the soup evenly with a few teaspoons of Parmesan breadcrumbs and top with a dollop of creme fraiche, if desired. Garnish with chopped chives, cilantro leaves, asparagus tips or a squeeze of a lime wedge and a splash of extra-virgin olive oil, if desired.Serve immediately.

The soup has great flavor from all of the vegetables and looks a great green color, just right for spring. One thing to remember when you are blending hot liquids, is to first let cool for 5 minutes or so, then transfer it to a blender, filling the blender only halfway. Put the lid on, but leave one corner open so you don’t have a vacuum that can make the whole thing explode on you. It’s dangerous and messy if you don’t do this. Make sure you cover the whole thing with a towel too while you are blending to catch any splatters that can happen along the way as well. It’s a great soup that is very easy to make. The Parmesan breadcrumbs would be a nice addition because the soup does need the salt and pepper to get really good flavor and the breadcrumbs can give you that and more.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on April 1, 2014 in Biscuits, Breads, Cooking, Dinner, One Pot Meals, Soups & Stews, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Tags: asparagus recipes, asparagus soup, biscuits, food network, Parmesan breadcrumbs, roasted asparagus

Going Meatless – Sparrow Veggie Burger

30 Mar

Everyone once in a while I do try to make a meatless dish so we can stay away from red meat. We don’t eat a lot of it here, but every little bit helps some, right? It’s also no secret that I watch a lot of Food Network, especially when it isn’t baseball season, so a few weeks ago Michelle and I saw Diners. Drive-Ins and Dives and Guy Fieri was a restaurant in Queens where they made this really great looking vegetable burger. Now most vegetable burgers I have had in the past have left a lot to be desired but this one looked like it had some great stuff in it so I wanted to give it a try. It took me a while to track down a recipe online and even then it was not very specific so it took a little manipulation on my part to make this one work.

Sparrow Veggie Burger

2 shredded carrots

1 shredded zucchini

1 cup barley, cooked

Corn off the ear of 1 cob

1 cup green peas

1 large sweet potato, cooked

handful of scallions

Panko breadcrumbs

1 diced red pepper

5 large chopped mushrooms

1 cup cooked brown rice

Pita bread

Lettuce or bean sprouts

Pickles

Sweet Cayenne Mustard Sauce:

1 cup plain nonfat yogurt or mayonnaise

3 tablespoons cayenne pepper

1/2 cup grain or Dijon mustard

3/4 cup agave or maple syrup

Mix the carrots, zucchini, cooked barley, corn, green peas, sweet potato, scallions, breadcrumbs, red pepper, mushrooms and the cooked brown rice together in a large bowl until blended. Allow the mixture to sit for 1 hour so the flavors can meld together.

While the vegetables sit, make the sweet cayenne mustard sauce. Mix the yogurt or mayonnaise, the cayenne pepper, mustard and the agave or maple syrup together in a medium bowl with a whisk until smooth and well blended. Set the sauce aside.

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees.For the veggie burgers, measure out six-ounce portions – about the size of the palm of your hand – and form patties for the burgers. Place the patties on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Cook the patties in the oven until they are cooked through, about 45 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of vegetable and heat until the oil is shimmering. Add the patties to the skillet and cook until the burgers are browned and crunchy on the outside, about 4 minutes per side.

Drizzle the sweet cayenne pepper sauce inside a pita. Add the lettuce or bean sprouts to the pita, then add the veggie burger and the pickles and drizzle with more sauce if desired. Repeat with the remaining burgers.

Okay, here are a couple of things we noticed in this recipe. First, this recipe makes a lot more than the 6 portions the recipe purports to make. We had over twelve patties when all was said and done, so you can bake them and freeze them so you always have some ready to make when you feel like having one and just defrost it and bake it in the skillet. Second, these burgers do not hold together well because there is not much to bind them. We actually experimented with another batch and added 1 beaten egg to the mix and they held together much better than the first batch. From what I have been able to see about the Sparrow Diner, while they call it a burger, it is not really served as a burger that holds together, which is why they serve it in a pita, which is fine, but we wanted more of a burger texture so we added the egg and served it on a hamburger roll. Finally, for the sauce, I cut back on the cayenne pepper. Three tablespoons is a lot of cayenne pepper, so if you like it hot, go for it, but if you want something milder, cut back a bit and you will have a great sauce. Michelle and I both liked the results of the burger. It had great flavor with all of the vegetables and we enjoyed. In the interest of full disclosure, Sean hated it. He didn’t like the taste and said it didn’t hold together well, but I think for the majority of teenage boys who hear they are having burgers for dinner it was an understandable reaction. He did eat it, but he wasn’t happy with it, so next time around I guess it is just for me and Michelle.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. I’ve been really busy lately so I haven’t been able to blog as much as I want, but I am going to try harder to keep up regularly since I still have lots to share. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

2 Comments

Posted by MikeG on March 30, 2014 in Cooking, Dinner, Sandwiches, Sauce, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Tags: food network, Guy Fieri, Sparrow Diner veggie burger, vegetable burger, veggie burger, veggie burgers

Sam Sifton is Right – Make This Chicken and Shallots Dish!

26 Mar

I had seen this recipe both on Twitter and in the New York Times last week and it sounded too good to pass up. Sam Sifton, who writes food articles for the New York Times, had gotten the recipe from Andrew Zimmern, the well-known chef and host of Man vs. Food. Andrew Zimmern had gotten the recipe from his wife Rishia, who adapted the recipe from one from Martha Stewart. Needless to say the recipe has made its rounds and it is quite simple but makes a really delicious chicken dish with just a few ingredients that you may already have around the house. I love simple recipes like this one so I knew I was going to try it as soon as I saw it.

Rishia Zimmern’s Chicken and Shallots

8 bone-in, skin on chicken thighs

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons butter

12 to 15 whole medium shallots, peeled

2 cups white wine

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 sprigs tarragon

2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half

Rinse the chicken thighs in water and pat them very dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the chicken thighs with the flour, kosher salt and pepper.

Melt the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pot or skillet set over medium-high heat. When the butter foams, cook the chicken thighs, in batches if necessary, until the chicken is well browned and crisp on all sides, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Set the chicken aside.

Add the whole shallots to the pot and saute them in the butter and chicken fat until they begin to soften and caramelize, approximately 10 to 12 minutes. Add the wine to deglaze the pot, stir with a large spoon, then add the Dijon mustard and the sprigs of tarragon, then the chicken thighs. Cover the pot, turn the heat down to low, and simmer the chicken for 30 minutes.

Remove the lid and allow the sauce to reduce and thicken, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add the cherry tomatoes to the pot, stir lightly to combine and serve immediately.

It is a very simple recipe that turns out some great tasting chicken with a nice sauce that is flavored well by the wine, mustard, tarragon and the shallots. I ended up cutting the recipe in half because 4 chicken thighs are more than enough for the three of us for a typical meal, but if you are feeding a larger group you could go with the full recipe. I served the chicken with some white rice and roasted asparagus and I think it all went really nicely together.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on March 26, 2014 in Cooking, Dinner, Poultry

Tags: Andrew Zimmern, chicken thighs, chicken thighs with shallots, chicken with shallots, new york times, Rishia Zimmern, Rishia Zimmern's chicken with shallots recipe, Sam Sifton

Going Ga-Ga Over Gumbo

24 Mar

I had meant to post this recipe a couple of weeks ago but I seemed to have caught up in other things lately and just completely forgot about it until I was making shrimp for dinner tonight and remembered I had a recipe for the shrimp, chicken and andouille gumbo I had made back on Fat Tuesday. Sean had requested some gumbo for that night so I had picked my way through a few different recipes until I came across this one from Bon Appetit. One thing to not about this particular recipe is that it makes a lot of gumbo. The servings for the original recipe are for 16 people. I cut the recipe in half when I made it and it still made a lot with many leftovers, so unless you are planning to feed a lot of people with this one, you might want to try to adjust it to fit your particular meal needs. Either way, it’s a great recipe to use.

Shrimp, Chicken and Andouille Gumbo

1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
6 large onions, chopped (about 12 cups)
6 red bell peppers, seeded, chopped (about 7 cups)
8 celery stalks, chopped (about 3 cups)
16 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chopped fresh thyme
6 bay leaves
2 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes with juice
4 8-ounce bottles clam juice
4 cups low-salt chicken broth
4 pounds andouille sausage, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
3 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 16-ounce packages sliced frozen okra
4 pounds peeled deveined medium shrimp
Minced fresh Italian parsley
Steamed rice

Heat oil in a heavy 13-quart pot over medium-high heat until it is very hot and almost smoking. Add the flour and stir constantly until the mixture is a dark reddish-brown, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped onions, chopped bell peppers, and chopped celery and cook until the onions are soft and brown, stirring frequently, about 20 minutes. Add the garlic and cayenne and stir for 2 minutes. Add the wine, thyme, and bay leaves; bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Add the tomatoes with juice, clam juice, chicken broth, andouille sausage, and the chicken thighs; simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Add the okra and simmer until it is tender, about 10 minutes.
Add the shrimp to the pot and cook the shrimp until it is just opaque in the center, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Season the gumbo to taste with the salt and pepper. Garnish the gumbo with minced parsley and serve with steamed rice alongside.

As you can see this recipe is not hard to make, but it does require an awful lot of prep work to make this easy on yourself. Do all of your chopping and dicing ahead of time and lay everything out for yourself to make it a lot easier and it will all come together quite easily. The flavors are great and I love the spiciness of the andouille with the shrimp and chicken and all of the great vegetables. Making the roux takes some time and attention but it is definitely worth it. There are lots of gumbo recipes out there that you can try; some omit the shrimp, some include other seafood. it’s really up to you as far as what you like best but you will get a great result and this recipe is perfect to make for a party or a buffet for a lot of people.

That’s all I have for today. Check back tomorrow for another recipe to try. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!