Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Easy Chicken Recipe
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
4 chicken breasts
3 T flour
1 egg
Dried bread crumbs - seasoned
2T olive oil
mix: 2T melted butter, 2T olive oil, 1T lemon juice, 1/2t salt, 1/2t basil, 1/2t oregano, 1/4 t garlic butter
Dredge chicken in fluor, then egg, and then the breadcrumbs
Heat olive oil and brown chicken until coating is golden
Put in baking pan
Pour sauce over top of chicken and bake for 30 minutes
Serve with wild rice.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Delicious Fudge
This is how I prefer to make it. I think for tomorrow's family party, I am going to put some green and red m&ms on top!
1 12oz package of semi-sweet chocolate chips
9 oz of butterscotch chips
1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 oz of the chopped walnuts
Combine the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and condensed milk in a pot on low heat on the stove. Keep stirring the mixture slowly until it is melted; make sure to not cook it too fast or else it will burn! Stir in the vanilla and then the chopped walnuts and remove from the heat. Pour fudge into any size container and put in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Cut and serve!
If you want to add the festive red and green m&ms, place them on top of the fudge after you pour it in the container and before you put it in the fridge. I am going to put enough m&ms on top so that each piece of fudge, once cut, has one m&m on top.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Happy Holidays!
Garbanzo Bean Cake
This is from the lovely, bride-to-be Jennifer Leist. And, it is Gluten Free!
1 1/2 cups of semisett chocolate chips
1 19 oz can of garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
4 eggs
3/4 cups white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans.
Place the choclate chips into a microwave-safe bowl. Cook in the microwave for about 2 minutes, stirring every 20 seconds after the first minute until chocolate is melted and smooth. If you have a powerful microwave, reduce the power to 50 percent.
Combine the beans and eggs in the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Add the sugar and the baking powder, pulse to blend. Pur the melted chocolate and blend until smooth, scraping down the corners to make sure that the chocolate is completely blended in. Transfer the batter to the cake pans.
Bake for 40 minutes or until you can stick the fork in and it comes out clean. Cool the cakes on a cooling rack before putting on a serving plate.
YUMMY FROSTING
1/2 cup of butter
4 tablespoons of cocoa powder
4 cups of confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons skim milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Melt margarine over low heat. Gradually beat in the other ingredients and mix well.
Strawberry and Brie Tarlets
This is from the Christmas-party Queen, Amber Hausenfluck. These are really delicious and so simple!
1 8 oz can of crescent rolls
1/4 cup of strawberry preserves
1/3 cup of chopped walnuts (you can buy them already chopped, to make it super easy!)
1 8 oz Brie cheese, rind removed and cut into 24 chunks
Heat oven to 350 degrees
Unroll dough and cut into 24 squares. Put the squares into two mini-muffin pans.
Spoon 1/2 teaspoon of preserves into each mini muffin cup. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon of nuts into each cup and put a chunk of brie in there as well.
Bake 16 to 19 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
Cook in pan for 5 minutes and then remove from pan.
Garnish each with a slice of fresh strawberry.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Easy and Delicious pesto
http://www.examiner.com/x-19959-Cincinnati-Italian-Food-Examiner~y2009m8d29-A-recipe-for-rosemary-pesto-with-almonds?cid=examiner-email
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Five Different Dinners with a Rotisserie Chicken
Here are five different ways you can dress up that rotisserie chicken.
Chicken Tacos (probably 10 minutes TOPS)
corn or flour tortillas
one Rotisserie Chicken
one can of black beans
pico de gallo
sour cream (fat free or regular)
shredded cheese (optional)
avocado (optional)
instant mexican rice
So simple. Take the chicken breasts off the chicken and cut them into strips. Heat up the black beans on the stove and warm the tortillas in the microwave. Pop the rice in the microwave and you are DONE. Compile your tacos with the sour cream, pico, and avocados...Make a salad to get your greens in.
BBQ potato dinner (10 minutes)
potatoes
one rotisserie chicken
bbq sauce
one can of baked beans
butter or spray butter
Clean the potatoes, poke holes in them with a fork, and pop them in the microwave (for small potatoes, I put two in there and let them go for 7 minutes). Once they are done, cut up the chicken breast from the rotisserie chicken, and put on top of the cut potato. Add bbq sauce to taste. Salt and pepper is sometimes needed, too. Make the baked beans on the stove and enjoy!
Chicken and vegetable pasta (25 - 30 minutes)
pasta (I used whole wheat)
one bag of fresh spinach
one chopped onion
one chopped bell pepper (either red, orange or yellow)
mushrooms
one rotisserie chicken
Start boiling the water FIRST. Add seasoning to the water, this the way you will be able to season your pasta. Once the water has boiled, add pasta and cook until soft.
Spray the skillet with cooking spray and put over medium heat. Add chopped onions and cook the onions until you can see through them. Add the bell pepper and mushrooms and cook about another 5 minutes. Once these veggies look good and cooked to you, add the spinach and cook until wilted. Spinach doesn't take very long at all, so add it last. Add salt to taste.
Drain the pasta. Cut the chicken breasts off the chicken and cut into slices. Add the cooked veggies and the chicken strips on top of the pasta and you are done! enjoy!
Traditional chicken dinner (15 minutes)
either asparagus or green beans
cous cous
one rotisserie chicken
Make the cous cous according to the package (this usually takes about 10 minutes). Put the vegetables over a medium high heat skillet and cook until cooked to your preference. Add salt and pepper to the veggies. Once the cous cous and vegetables are done, cut the chicken and make a delicious plate.
Chicken sandwich and sweet potato fries (20 minutes)
sweet potatoes
rotisserie chicken
bread or your favorite bun
ingredients for your favorite salad
Put your oven on broil and cut the sweet potatoes in to thin circles. Put the circles on a greased cookie sheet. Put in the heated oven and watch them until they are a little crispy around the edges.
Make a sandwich from the rotisserie chicken and enjoy with the sweet potato fries and a salad of your choice.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Spaghetti with a kick of Mexican flare
Ground turkey or beef (or your favorite vegetarian option like fake ground meat)
one onion
minced garlic
whole wheat pasta
two cans of stewed tomatoes with Mexican flavoring
grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper or a hotter seasoning if you prefer, like a cajun seasoning
Make the pasta according to the package. I would start boiling the water FIRST to make sure the pasta and the meat finish at the same time. Start to boil the water even before you start chopping the onions. Add salt to the water so you can season the pasta once it gets in there.
Heat a skillet and start to sautee the minced garlic (I used 1/2 tsp, but if you prefer more garlic, have at it). Add the chopped onion and sautee until the onion is clear. Sprinkle the raw meat with salt and pepper or a hotter cajun seasoning, depending on how hot you want to make it. Cook the ground meat, making it in small, edible bites, in the pan with the garlic and the onions. Once the meat is brown and cooked all the way through, add the two cans of mexican stewed tomatoes. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Make sure not to go too long as to cook off all the moisture from the tomatoes.
Put the meat on top of the pasta, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and ENJOY! Pair this with a fabulous salad and you will be good to go.
Dessert, you say? Check out my sister's column about gelato. Don't forget to subscribe so you can receive an email every time a new column is out!
www.examiner.com/x-19959-Cincinnati-Italian-Food-Examiner~y2009m8d17-The-difference-between-gelato-and-ice-cream
Thursday, August 13, 2009
All in the Family
My sister started an Italian cooking column in Cincinnati. You've got to read it. She's a much better writer than me and she absolutely loves everything Italian, so this column should be super fun! Looks like we're even going to get some Italian pronunciation lessons!
Enjoy!
http://www.examiner.com/x-19959-Cincinnati-Italian-Food-Examiner~y2009m8d12-Making-authentic-bruschetta-at-home