How to Fix the Biggest Thanksgiving Fails – Bon Appétit.
Bon Appetit has put together some helpful hints for some of the typical problems and issues that may come up in your Thanksgiving meal. Now you can save your stuffing, turkey and pumpkin pie with just a bit of help and information and without the worry. Check it out!
As the Thanksgiving holiday creeps closer and closer you want to find easy meals to make in the days before so that you can focus in on anything that needs to be taken care of for your holiday plans. One dish meals are ideal when you can get them together fast so you don’t even have to think much about dinner for one night. This recipe, from Bon Appetit, is just about a one dish meal. All you need is a vegetable on the side to finish the meal off and you can have a great tasting meal of roasted chicken with chorizo and sweet potatoes.
Roasted Chicken with Chorizo and Sweet Potatoes
4 skin on, bone in chicken breasts (or other chicken pieces; I used thighs)
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 fresh chorizo, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 large garlic cloves, smashed
2 large sweet potatoes, cut into long wedges about 1/2-inch thick
1 red onion, cut in half and then cut each half into quarters
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 sprig rosemary, plus additional for garnish (optional)
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Season the chicken pieces with the apple cider vinegar, kosher salt and black pepper. Set the chicken aside. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet set over medium high heat. Add the chorizo and cook, stirring the chorizo occasionally, until it is beginning to brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the chicken, skin side down and cook the chicken until the skin is a golden brown, about 5 to 8 minutes.
Toss the sweet potatoes, garlic, red onion, white wine and the remaining one tablespoon of olive oil, along with the rosemary (if using), until everything is coated and well mixed. Place the sweet potato mixture on a rimmed baking sheet in an even layer. Place the chicken pieces and the chorizo pieces on top of the vegetables and roast the chicken until it is cooked through and the sweet potatoes are tender, about 20 to 25 minutes. Divide the chicken and sweet potato mixture among the plates and garnish with additional rosemary, if desired.
I really enjoyed the mix of the chicken, chorizo and the sweet potatoes. The chorizo added just the right spiciness to the dish and the potatoes were great roasted and mixed with everything. The chicken had additional flavor from marinating briefly with the cider vinegar to add to the dish overall. I served this with a simple green vegetable on the side and everything was done in under 45 minutes and clean up was a breeze. I used chicken thighs instead of breasts, but you could use whichever chicken pieces you have on hand and like best; I think it would do just as well with drumsticks if you prefer.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. I’ll be traveling over the next few days as we head down to North Carolina for the holiday, but I will make some Thanksgiving posts before the holiday along the way, so keep checking back. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
I had made quite a bit of chicken early in the week and needed to come up with something else to make with it this week so it didn’t go to waste. One of my favorite standby dishes that is a great way to use some leftovers is to make some type of pot pie. you can pretty much put anything in a pot pie and have any type of protein or just vegetables and some type of gravy on the inside and then top it off with some type of crust to make your pie. I had seen this recipe on Bon Appetit’s website recently that makes the whole pie in a cast iron skillet and makes use of a couple of different vegetables in a pot pie that I haven’t tried before – butternut squash and kale. Now we are not big kale eaters in my house – I don’t really care for the bitterness of it and I would much rather have spinach, which I happened to have on hand, so instead of going out to buy kale, I substituted spinach instead.
Skillet Chicken Pot Pie with Butternut Squash
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup frozen white pearl onions, thawed
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
1 small bunch kale, center ribs and stems removed, leaves chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 small butternut squash, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 rotisserie chicken, meat torn into bite-size pieces, or 1 1/2 cups leftover chicken, torn into pieces
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg
Place a rack in the upper third of the oven; preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Heat the olive oil in an 8-inch cast-iron or other heavy ovenproof skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the pearl onions. Cook the onions, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to brown, about 4 minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the garlic and the sage to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until the garlic begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Add the kale and season it with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing the kale often, until the kale is wilted, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and cook, stirring constantly, for 4 minutes.
Stir in the chicken broth a 1/2-cupful at a time, then add the butternut squash. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the squash is just softened and the broth is thickened, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the chicken pieces to the skillet, stir and season with salt and pepper.
Unfold the puff pastry and smooth any creases. Place the puff pastry over the skillet, allowing the corners to hang over the sides of the skillet. Whisk the egg and 1 teaspoon of water in a small bowl. Brush the pastry with the egg wash and cut four 1-inch slits on the top of the pastry to vent it.
Bake the pot pie until the pastry is beginning to brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees and continue to bake the pot pie until the pastry is a deep golden brown and crisp, about 15 to 20 minutes longer. Let the pot pie cool for 10 minutes before serving.
This is a great one pot dish that gets done in under an hour and uses your leftovers really well. I enjoyed the addition of the spinach and the squash instead of having just carrots and potatoes in the mix. I also added some peas to the mix that I had and I ended up using regular pie crust instead of puff pastry, mainly because I did not have any puff pastry on hand that night. I think the puff pastry would be perfect since it is lighter and flakier, but the pie crust did the job nicely. This is definitely an easy one that you want to make use of again and would be just as good with beef as it is with chicken.
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!
Sean has been asking me for months now to try my hand at making some homemade tater tots. Tater tots are pretty much a religious experience around my home and Michelle and Sean absolutely love them. When we have burgers, it’s always with tater tots. I have looked at recipes for homemade tots before and they always seemed very involved and difficult and didn’t look like they would really turn out all that great so I stayed away from them. A few days ago I saw this recipe from Bon Appetit and read through it and could not believe how easy it would be, so I knew this was going to be the time I would try it out.
Homemade Tater Tots with Spicy Mayonnaise
For the Spicy Mayonnaise:
1 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon adobo sauce from canned chipotles in adobo
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
¼ teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika (optional)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 medium russet potatoes (about 2 pounds), scrubbed
2 scallions, chopped
½ cup seasoned Italian breadcrumbs
¼ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon sour cream or plain yogurt
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
½ teaspoon granulated garlic
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan, plus more
2 large eggs, beaten to blend
Vegetable oil, for frying
For the spicy mayonnaise, combine the mayonnaise, adobo sauce, hot pepper sauce, and paprika, if using, in a small bowl; season the mayonnaise with salt and pepper to taste.
27 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast Recipes – Bon Appétit.
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are a staple in just about every home as part of a weekly meal. The problem is that they can get rather boring if you simply bake or saute them time after time and they may not have a lot of flavor to them. That’s why you can try to jazz things up a little bit so that you can have tasty, flavorful and not overcooked chicken each time you make it. Bon Appetit has put together 27 boneless, skinless chicken breast recipes that can give you all kinds of great ideas for weeknight meals or weekends. Check it out!
Personally, I am not much of a breakfast person myself. I usually am happy with just a cup of coffee and maybe a piece of fruit, but Sean likes breakfast and needs something to get him going for a long day at school, so I am always trying to come up with something that he will enjoy and maybe even ask for again instead of just cereal or breakfast bars. I think I may have hit on something when I tried this recipe from Bon Appetit for potato-bacon breakfast tacos with Monterey Jack cheese. They are quick and easy to make and you can really put anything you want in them to fit your particular tastes in the morning. This recipe makes 8 servings, so you can adjust it to make whatever you may happen to need for you and your family.
Potato-Bacon Breakfast Tacos with Monterey Jack Cheese
4 ounces bacon (about 6 slices), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large russet potato, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 6-inch flour tortillas, warmed
8 eggs
2 tablespoons butter
Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese, shredded (for serving)
1 avocado, sliced, for serving (optional)
Hot sauce (for serving)
In a medium skillet set over medium-high heat, cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is crisp, about 6 to 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to paper towels so it can drain. Do not pour off the fat from the skillet.
In the same skillet that you cooked bacon, add the potatoes and cook, stirring often, until the potatoes are golden brown and tender, about 10 to 12 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the potatoes to a plate or bowl and season them with salt and pepper to taste.
Meanwhile, whisk the eggs in a large bowl to blend them. Season the eggs with salt and pepper. Heat the butter in a large nonstick skillet set over medium heat until the foam subsides. Add the eggs and cook, stirring occasionally and scraping the bottom of the skillet with a heatproof spatula to form large curds, until the eggs are just set, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the eggs from the heat and mix in the bacon pieces with the eggs.
Fill the warmed tortillas with the egg mixture and the potatoes and top with your favorite toppings, such as shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese, sliced avocado and hot sauce.
Of course, you can top these with whatever type of cheese you like best, sautéed onions, peppers, any other warmed vegetable you might like, breakfast sausage or really just about anything else that you like to go with your eggs. You get all of your favorite breakfast flavors in each bite of the taco and they take only minutes to make in the morning. You can make things even easier for yourself and use a can of diced potatoes or some frozen diced potatoes or even better, leftovers, to make this in an even faster time. Sean really liked it so I know he’ll be asking to have this one again.
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!
7 Apple Picking Common Mistakes to Avoid This Fall – Bon Appétit.
With the fall upon us many people in my area of New York and all over the country turn their thoughts to apple picking. There are many orchards around me here where we live that you can go to so that you and your family can spend some time picking apples and finding just what you like. Bon Appetit has some tips for you when you are looking into going apple picking so you can make the most of the experience and get just what you like. Check it out!
From Butternut Squash to Faux Pho, Soups to Make This Season – Bon Appétit. As the fall weather gets closer and closer I start to think more about making some, warm,comforting meals for dinner. This very often includes making an array of different types of soup that are perfect for the season and are great for dinners, lunches and leftovers. Bon Appetit has put together 31 soups that are great for this time of year. Take a look at the recipes and find your favorite one to try. Check it out!
As much as I love shrimp, the prices of it lately have been pretty high so I have not been able to get it very often. Even the price of frozen shrimp has been a bit much at the supermarket, so when I saw some on sale at the fish market lately and saw it was gulf shrimp I decided to make the splurge and get some to have for dinner. Instead of just making the standard fried shrimp or shrimp scampi, I wanted to try something a little different and something that was not going to be very labor intensive to make it perfect for an easy weeknight meal that can be done in just a few minutes. I found this recipe from Bon Appetit for garlic shrimp and white beans and it sounded perfect and included everything I had on hand already, with the exception of the chiles de arbol, which I left out and substituted some chili powder instead.
Garlic Shrimp and White Beans
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 garlic cloves, minced, divided
2 dried chiles de arbol
1 bay leaf
1 1/4 cups chopped tomato
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 15-ounce cans white beans (such as cannellini), rinsed and drained
1 cup chicken broth
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Grilled bread (optional)
Preheat the broiler. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large, heavy, ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add 1 garlic clove, the chiles de arbol, and the bay leaf, and cook, stirring constantly, just until the mixture is fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes. Do not allow the garlic to burn. Add the chopped tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring and smashing the tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon, until the tomatoes are completely broken down, about 5 minutes.
Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until the tomato paste is a deep red and caramelized, about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the white beans and the chicken broth. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until the juices are slightly reduced and thickened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper.
Combine the remaining 2 garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the shrimp and the smoked paprika in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper and toss the mixture to evenly coat all of the shrimp. Scatter the shrimp over the bean mixture in an even layer.
Broil until the shrimp are golden and cooked through, about 3 minutes. Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over he shrimp and the beans. Garnish the dish with the chopped parsley and serve with grilled bread, if desired.
While the grilled bread sounded really good, I didn’t have any on hand that day so I simply served the shrimp as it was. All of the flavors melded nicely together and the beans and the shrimp had a great taste from the garlic, chili powder and paprika. The tomatoes added a nice touch to the whole dish and having some bread to dip in to sop up the juices would have been a nice touch. The whole meal can be put together in under 30 minutes, so it is perfect for one of those busy weeknights when you need something fast to cook.
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!
13 Leftovers That Taste Better Cold – Bon Appétit.
Sometimes leftovers just hit the spot when you need a quick snack, lunch or are on a midnight forage through the refrigerator. Bon Appetit has put together 13 items that tastes even better when they are cold so you know what to look for when you really want something fast. Check it out!
Fun, unusual and forgotten designations on our calendar.
Happily Ever After Lives Here
a little bit naughty a little bit nice
Letting Life Lead
Simple and delicious dinner inspiration
onedadskitchen 