Chicken Marsala

Meal #2 from Home Chef. Chicken Marsala. Oh my goodness. This was not only great tasting but the whole house smells wonderful. So far, so awesome.

Is this thing on?

I'm wondering if this still works since I have abandoned it so completely over the last month or so. I would like to say that, even though I haven't been posting, we've still been cooking up a storm but, sadly, it is not true. We have ground to a halt. I'm not sure when I've eaten so much pizza or so many hot dogs.

We did manage two new recipes recently that I will label "from the ridiculous to the sublime".

First the ridiculous. This is from a small Taste of Home cookbook that I picked up as a joke. You see, it's the BACON recipe card edition. And while most of the recipes look like coronary artery disease on a plate, we did actually make one and it was really quite tasty! I give you the

BLT Salad

1 pound sliced bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
¼ cup butter, cubed
4 slices white bread, crusts removed and cut into 1-inch cubes
½ cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons minced fresh basil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon minced garlic
6 cups torn romaine
1½ cups grape tomatoes

1. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove to paper towels; drain, reserving 2 tablespoons drippings. Set bacon and drippings aside.

2. In another large skillet, melt butter. Add bread cubes, cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Remove to paper towels; cool.

3. For dressing, in a small bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, basil, vinegar, pepper, garlic and reserved drippings. In a large bowl, combine the romaine, tomatoes and bacon. Drizzle with dressing and toss to coat. Top with croutons.

We've made this twice and it's really delicious! The ingredients listed reflect the modifications that we made to the original recipe and we like it better this way. It's a nice summer dinner. And it's quick and easy, which is a definite plus these days!

And now the sublime. This is from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics cookbook. This is another really fast and delicious meal that's great for the summer, especially how we paired it.

Tagliarelle with Truffle Butter

Kosher salt
½ cup heavy cream
3 ounces white truffle butter
Freshly ground black pepper
1 (8.82-ounce) package Cipriani tagliarelle dried pasta or other egg fettuccine
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
3 ounces Parmesan, shaved thin with a vegetable peeler

Add 1 tablespoon salt to a large pot of water and bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, in a large (12-inch) sauté pan, heat the cream over medium heat until it comes to a simmer. Add the truffle butter, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper; lower the heat to very low, and swirl the butter until it melts. Keep warm over very low heat.
Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes, exactly. (If you're not using Cipriani pasta, follow the directions on the package.) When the pasta is cooked, reserve ½ cup of the cooking water, then drain the pasta. Add the drained pasta to the sauté pan and toss it with the truffle-cream mixture. As the pasta absorbs the sauce, add as much of the reserved cooking water as necessary to keep the pasta very creamy.
Serve the pasta in shallow bowls and garnish each serving with a generous sprinkling of chives and shaved Parmesan.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve at once.

Ina's description of this dish starts with "OMG", which busts me up, but it's, in fact, the right reaction. This meal is unbelievable! And it's ridiculously easy to make. Perfect for those rushed nights when you're home late from work and you just can't face another pizza! We did not find Cipriani pasta but we did find premium tagliatelle egg pasta that is simply amazing. We also have difficulty finding the truffle butter on a regular basis. We've only actually found it once but we check in the store every single time we go because we will buy this tiny pot of butter for $12 every time we see it. Yes, we will.

As an alternative, we did try a 3-ounce container of garlic finishing butter and it wasn't the same by far (and not close to $12) but it was still quite tasty.

And now the surprise for me with this dish. We served it with a plain baby arugula mix from the grocery store and some freshly made Good Seasons Italian dressing. That's it. I cannot tell you how fantastic this pairing was! And served with a good Italian wine - it's other-worldly!

I'm going to count these two since they were new recipes for us and we actually did cook, so in the newly designed Our Own Julie/Julia Project, these are the latest two entries.

Days 155 and 164/365:Recipes 42 and 43/175

Day Eighty

She Said:

Again, we are forcing ourselves to cook. Energy levels are at an all-time low. But we press on. Mostly 'cause I went shopping and we have fresh veggies we need to use up. Certainly not because we feel like cooking!

This one counts toward our own Julie/Julia Project and it's from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman.

Pasta With Green Clam Sauce

1½-2 pounds fresh spinach, tough stems removed (we used baby spinach)
⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 bottle (8 ounces) clam juice
1 cup chicken broth (or substitute another 8-ounce bottle of clam juice)
2 cans (6 ounces each) chopped clams in clam juice
½ cup dried bread crumbs
1 pound vermicelli
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spinach and cook until wilted, about 30 seconds. Remove from the water with tongs or a slotted spoon and let drain in a colander. Let the water return to a boil.

2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant but not browned, about 1 minute. Add the clam juice and broth. Strain the clam juice from the cans of clams into the saucepan. Add the bread crumbs and let simmer. (At this point, we said "What?? Add the bread crumbs to that much liquid?" But we did. We think it's just for thickening but I've never used bread crumbs to thicken a sauce before.)

3. Squeeze the excess water from the spinach. Transfer to a cutting board and coarsely chop.

4. When the water returns to a boil, cook the pasta until just al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the pasta-cooking water.

5. Return the pasta to the pot. Add the clams, spinach, and simmering sauce. Toss to mix. Add enough of the reserved pasta cooking water to make the pasta very moist. Season lightly with salt and very generously with black pepper. Serve at once.

We didn't need the reserved pasta water for the initial meal but I saved it and when we were packing up the leftovers, I threw it in then. After having the leftovers last night, I should have only thrown in about half of it. I think there was a lot of clam juice in the canned clams we used.

This meal was really good. I thought the first bite was odd but I think I was expecting linguine with white clam sauce and this definitely has spinach in it. After my first bite, I ended up shoveling this into my mouth. We all loved it. Oh, and we topped it with some fresh grated Parmesan, 'cause you hafta, right?

Easy, easy meal - quick and delicious. I recommend it!

Day 80/365:Recipe 37/175

Day Sixty-Six

She Said:

Boy, I'm tired. Too tired to cook right now, that's for sure. So I'll tell you about the one dish that we made last week that I neglected to post about. This counts toward our own Julie/Julia Project and it's from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman.
This dish used up the rest of the peas from our garden and so the rest of the pea dishes in this section will have to be made with frozen or possibly farmer's market peas. It was really good and I'm happy to have made it. But, the recipe was oddly written, so I'm going to interpret for you.

Shells with Peas and Prosciutto

8 oz. small-cut pasta (like medium shells, elbows, etc. - we used Orecchiette which was absolutely perfect)
2 cups peas (about 2 pounds in pods)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces prosciutto, diced
1 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus extra for serving
Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta according to package directions, until just al dente. Bring a second medium pot of salted water to boil and add the peas. Boil just until tender, 3 to 5 minutes, depending on their age. Drain well.

2. In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the prosciutto and onion and sauté until the onion is softened, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Reduce the heat to very low and stir in the peas.

3. Reserve a cup of the pasta liquid and drain the pasta. Add the pasta to the pea mixture and toss to coat. Add the cheese and toss well. Add the reserved pasta water as needed to moisten the pasta (we ended up using all of it). Season generously with salt and pepper.

4. Serve at once, passing additional cheese on the side.

This was quite tasty, as I said, and I think we will make it again. It can really be a standalone meal but we paired it with some sauteéd scallops and chorizo, which ended up being a bad combination. I ate both of my meal components separately. They were both delicious but they were not a good couple!

Day 66/375:Recipe 35/175

Day Twenty-Seven

She Said:

We skipped Day Twenty-Six due to overindulgence on Day Twenty-Five. Booze, not food. So, we picked back up on Day Twenty-Seven. Two recipes to count toward our own Julie/Julia Project. These are both from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman.

Creamy Asparagus Fettucine

1 pound asparagus (about 20 medium-thick spears)
1 pound fettucine
1 large red bell pepper, roasted and cut into strips (we used jarred, since we had it on hand)
1 pound ricotta cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
⅓ cup chopped fresh chives, garlic chives, or scallions (we used scallions)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Begin heating a large pot of salted water.

2. Snap off and discard the woody ends of the asparagus. Cut off the tips of the asparagus spears and reserve. Cut the spears into 1½-inch lengths.

3. When the water comes to a boil, add the asparagus and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tips and cook until the asparagus is just tender, about 2 minutes longer. Using a large skimmer or slotted spoon, remove the asparagus and transfer to a bowl. Cover and keep warm.

4. Cook the fettucine in the water until al dente. Remove ½ cup of the cooking water. Briefly drain the fettucine in a colander and return it to the pot, along with the asparagus.

5. Add the roasted pepper, ricotta, Parmesan, and chives. Toss well, adding the reserved cooking water as needed to make a creamy sauce. Season generously with salt and pepper.

6. Serve hot, passing additional Parmesan at the table.

I think this recipe has potential, but the way we ended up making it, it was like noodles coated with kindergarten paste. I think we could tweak it to make it better - add some chicken or vegetable broth, maybe, and use low-fat ricotta instead of the full-fat variety that we used. It was quite tasty - just way too thick and gummy.

The other recipe He made was for lunches this week. I haven't had any yet (as I'm feeling quite under the weather) but I'm sure I will.

Classic Potato Salad

2½ pounds waxy or all-purpose potatoes
3 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
2 large celery stalks, finely chopped
½ red bell pepper, finely chopped
½ large sweet onion or small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 cup boiled salad dressing, such as Miracle Whip, or more to taste
2 tablespoons chopped dill pickle or sweet pickle relish, or more to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Paprika, to garnish

1. Put the potatoes in a large saucepan and fill with enough cold water to cover the potatoes by 1 inch. Bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender, 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the size. Don't overcook. Drain well and let cool.

2. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel and slice them into ½-inch cubes.

3. Combine the potatoes, eggs, celery, bell pepper, and onion in a large mixing bowl. Add the dressing and pickles. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well. Add more dressing if the salad seems dry. Adjust the flavor with additional pickles and salt and pepper, if desired. Chill well. The salad will develop flavor as it sits.

4. Just before serving, taste and adjust the seasoning. Sprinkle paprika on top to garnish.

The funny thing is that I grew up on Miracle Whip. My mother never had real mayonnaise in the house and the first time I tried mayonnaise, I hated it! But since I've been out of my parents' house, I've used mayonnaise almost exclusively and it was actually a nice reminiscence to go buy a jar of Miracle Whip. I plan to use it and relive those younger years. (I swear, when I was little, I could eat that stuff by the spoonful. My mom used to put out a platter of sliced tomatoes and iceberg lettuce with a bowl of Miracle Whip in the center. Since I couldn't stand tomatoes, I used to just slather Miracle Whip on the almost-tasteless iceberg lettuce and truly, truly enjoy myself. And that's about as close to eating it by the spoonful as you can get without actually doing the deed. Mmmm...Miracle Whip!)

Day 27/365:Recipes 19 and 20/175

Day Twelve

She Said:

Day Twelve of our own Julie/Julia Project was a rousing success!! We made one thing from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman and one surprise!

First, the item from Serving Up the Harvest. We wanted a salad to go along with our surprise dinner, so I picked up some fresh organic spring mix and served that simply with this salad dressing.

Black & Green Olive Vinaigrette

1 garlic clove
1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
¼ cup pitted black olives
¼ cup pitted green olives
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

1. In a blender or food processor, process the garlic and oregano until finely chopped. Add the black and green olives and process to finely chop. Scrape down the sides of the container, pour in the vinegar, and process until mixed.

2. With the motor running, slowly pour in the oil and process until the mixture is thick and smooth. Season to taste with the pepper.

3. Serve immediately or store in an airtight jar in the refrigerator for up to a week. It will need remixing before serving.

Now we LOVE olives! So this was a perfect dressing for us. Although, once you get the vinegar and pepper and oregano and garlic in there, it's really only reminiscent of olives. It's not an in-your-face olive flavor. Still quite delicious! And perfect for the simple salad.

Now the surprise. We picked up another couple of cookbooks to use during our own Julie/Julia Project to make things a little more challenging when we had the time. This recipe is from Tyler's Ultimate by Tyler Florence.

The Ultimate Spaghetti Carbonara

Kosher salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
8 bacon slices, cut crosswise into thin strips
1 onion, chopped
4 large eggs
6 tablespoons heavy cream
¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 pound spaghetti
Cracked black pepper
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Bring a big pot of salted water to a boil for the spaghetti.

Heat a 3-count of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon and onion and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, until the onion is caramelized and the bacon is crisp. While that's going, crack the eggs into a big serving bowl. Add the cream and cheese and whisk. Scrape the bacon and onion into the bowl along with the cooking fat.

By now your pasta water has come to a boil. Throw in the spaghetti and give it a stir to separate the strands; cook for 8 to 9 minutes, until al dente. Scoop out about ¼ cup of the pasta cooking water and add that to the bowl with the bacon and eggs. Then drain the spaghetti, add it to the bowl, and give everything a toss. Invert a plate on top of the bowl to hold in the heat and let the pasta set for 5 minutes. Remove the plate, toss in some salt and lots of cracked black pepper and the parsley, and boom: You've got spaghetti carbonara!

Now, I've only had spaghetti carbonara one other time and it was in an "authentic" Italian restaurant. And I didn't like it. I only ate a little of it and didn't take home the leftovers. So I was a bit nervous about this recipe. But my fears have been allayed! This is one truly delicious meal! I actually made yummy noises all the way through dinner. Fabulous!

He Said:

Day Twelve, indeed! Now that was a great cooking day. The salad dressing that She talks about above was as good a dressing as I've ever had. Seriously. Rich, earthy and savory. The spaghetti carbonara exceeded my expectations. And my expectations were actually pretty high. Such a great meal. In fact, 12 hours later (at work, grrrr) I find that I am craving that meal again. Hmmmmm. I wonder if I could get She to bring some over for me. Just kidding, honey. I know you would but I think I can wait.

Or can I?

*wink*

Day 12/365:Recipe 8/175

My Specialty

She Said:

I watched the first season of "Worst Cooks in America". I wasn't going to. I don't like reality shows - at all! - but I thought that I might be able to pick up a few pointers. I missed the first episode the first time around but caught it in a rerun. The contestants had to cook something for the two chefs on the show. It was supposed to be their specialty. I wondered what I would make, put into that same situation. I'm not good without a recipe but there are two things that I can make in my sleep - with my eyes closed. This is one of them.

Pat's Macaroni and Cheese

8 oz. short cut pasta (elbows, penne, rigatoni, shells, farfalle, anything like that)
1/2 stick butter
1 small onion (or half of a large onion), diced
1/2 tsp. salt
Freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 3/4 cups skim milk
2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided

Cook macaroni according to package directions.

Preheat oven to 375℉.

In a saucepan, cook the onion over medium-high heat in the butter, salt and pepper until the onion is soft. Turn heat to low and add in flour. Cook and stir for a few minutes until bubbly and smooth (well, as smooth as it can be with bits of onion in it). Turn heat back up to medium-high and slowly add milk. Cook, stirring occasionally, until it starts to bubble (I usually give it a burst of high heat to get it going). Continue to cook and stir constantly over medium-high heat for one minute until thickened. Turn off heat. Add 2 cups of Cheddar cheese and stir until melted.

Combine the cooked macaroni and the cheese sauce and the pour into a 1 1/2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese. Bake at 375℉ for 30 minutes until golden and bubbly.

And now my secret is out. You can throw all kinds of things in this: sliced and sauteed hot dogs, tuna and sweet peas, whatever you think will go in a tuna casserole. Use your imagination! We had it last night for dinner and just had steamed broccoli on the side. That was good, too!

One Local Summer, Week 7

Just some plain old food - spaghetti with meat sauce.  The sauce was great (the pasta, not so much).  We made a casserole from the leftover sauce and it was goooood!