Chicken, Carrot, Kalamata Olive Pasta Salad

This started as a what-do-I-have-on-hand meal. I wanted to run get some feta, but we decided that would defeat the purpose and could be added to the leftovers later. It had a very nice flavor and was pretty simple. We ate it warm, but I'm pretty certain that it would be good cold as well. *update - yep good cold, too*

My sister adopted an olive tree for me for Christmas last year. Nudo sent a very nice package including a description and picture of my tree, as well as a spring pressing package of olive oil and a fall flavored package. The olive oil was outstanding and I totally need to re-up my adoption as well as order some extra. I highly recommend this gift for any foodie friends or yourself. Caution, you may wind up wanting to drink the olive oil.

3 chicken split breasts

olive oil

kosher salt

paprika

fresh ground pepper

3/4 c. pitted kalamata olives, sliced

3/4 c. sliced baby carrots

3/4 c. Italian Parsley, chopped

1.5 c. penne pasta

1 shallot, chopped

2 tbsps olive oil

4 tbsps champagne vinegar

1/8 tsp ground mustard

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

3/4 tsp murray river salt

Preheat oven to 400. Season chicken with salt, paprika, and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 40 minutes or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 170.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add penne, cook for 6 minutes, add carrots cook another five minutes. Drain, add to large bowl.

Shred chicken with fork, add to pasta. Add, parsley and olives. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, vinegar, mustard, pepper, salt, and shallots. Stir then pour over pasta dish. Serve warm or cold.

Chicken Marsala with Cremini Mushrooms

Food can bring back memories, and memories can bring back food. I went to a wedding once, not one of my finer moments. The wedding was for one of my now husband's cousins. At the time, I was busy having a nervous breakdown about the fact that I was still not engaged and being asked to step out of family pictures. My husband is from a very Italian family. His uncle is a deacon in the Catholic church, and this wedding was for the eldest of his four daughters. So aside from the fact that I was totally inappropriately dressed (dress too red, too dressy, and too revealing to boot), somehow in my anger/sadness/worry about my impending need to dump my boyfriend because he wouldn't propose, I had a bit too much to drink. The meal was catered by another Italian friend, and the entree was Chicken Marsala. I don't think I'd ever had chicken Marsala before, but in my memory, it was delicious. The next morning, I wasn't so sure.

Anyhow, that night is not one I've often liked to revisit over the years. As we close in on a decade since the event, I suddenly had the desire to attempt my own chicken Marsala. I love that my husband is from a very Italian family. I've always joked that I'm a first generation American. Not that *I* emigrated here, but our lineage is becoming such the melting pot, I don't even know what to call myself other than American. My mother is quite the genealogist and would assure you that this is not true, and that we have very specific western European lineage, but combine that with my dad and it's all pretty muddled at this point. When my husband's grandfather was dying, I cooked a lot of meals for him. It was the only thing I knew how to do, the only way I knew how to contribute. I'd try to cook things he liked or asked for, but a renal diet is rather challenging. But I think Grandpa would have liked this chicken Marsala. Not that he was picky with me, he mainly said everything I cooked was wonderful. In fact once he joked that I could cater my own next wedding. (Which I definitely do not plan on having!)

So I completely spaced out when planning what to serve with this dish. I completely forgot about pasta all together. After ruling out couscous (we had it last night) and black beans (totally inappropriate) I settled on lentils. The husband and kids liked it, but the sauce would have been much more suited to pasta.

4 skinless boneless chicken breasts, butterflied, then pounded thin
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
flour
olive oil
5 tbsps butter, divided
16 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 cups dry Marsala wine
1 cup chicken stock
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
chives for garnish

Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Dredge each in flour in a shallow bowl. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat, add 2 tbsp olive oil, then 1 tbsp butter. Shake excess flour from chicken, then brown in skillet, about 3-4 minutes per side, minding your heat and adding additional olive oil to your chicken to keep the flour browning. Only cook about 3 chicken pieces at a time. When browned, remove chicken to plate and set aside.

Add 1 tbsp butter to skillet then add mushrooms. Cook over medium high heat about 6-8 minutes or until liquid has released, and mushrooms begin to brown. Add Marsala wine and bring to a boil. Cook until reduced by half. Add chicken stock, garlic, lemon juice, and remaining 3 tbsps of butter. Cook 4 more minutes, then add chicken back to skillet. Cover and cook 6-7 minutes, turning once. Serve over pasta and garnish with chives.

Pancetta Wrapped Pork with Couscous and Herb Salad

I am suffering from a severe lack of creativity over here. Maybe it's because it was my birthday last week, maybe it's because my husband's been sick, maybe I'm just bored. In any case, I'm feeling to lazy at the moment to really whip up any of my own inspired meals. On the upside, sometimes it's good to simply follow someone else's recipes because you learn things you can incorporate into other dishes later.

Tonight I'm making a pancetta wrapped pork loin I found on Martha Stewart's website. Martha actually has a couple of versions of the same thing on her site, but this is the one I liked the best. The little onions for example, unpeeled? Really? I was anxious to see how they turned out and really shocked to see them on the serving platter. Are they just for decoration? Edible? Do they turn out like roasted garlic, all squishy in the center, good on toast? (They looked cool, and peeled like roasted garlic, but tasted kind of bleh, IMO.)

I also like the sauce base for this recipe, used in place of a roux. Equal parts of fat and flour used to thicken broth. But instead of cooking the fat and flour, then adding the liquid, you're adding it after reducing the liquid. It should thicken and make a nice basic sauce. (Sauce had great color and was a very nice addition. )

Of course everything seems to be thwarting me these days. The grocery was out of rosemary. I thought about emailing some friends to ask if anyone had an out of control rosemary bush I could pilfer a few branches from, but instead trucked it to another grocery store. I'm frustrated that I don't have a real outdoor herb garden. I used to have one, but somehow, my life got stuck on permanent pause when I moved here, and I just can't manage to get a life plan together and actually start living instead of merely planning, debating, pondering, then starting the vicious cycle all over again. And I hate my kitchen. Perhaps I should go back to work so I could buy myself a nice kitchen. Of course than I wouldn't have any time or energy to use it. Yet another conundrum. Ack. I promise to try to be back on top of the world tomorrow.

The recipe is definitely pretty. But as for basting with the juices, mine had no juices. Of course, my pancetta was a little thin as it was the prepackaged stuff, since the neighborhood grocery doesn't carry it in the deli. If it were thicker, I am certain it would render more fats and juices. Even without basting, the end result was very good. I give the recipe a very high ranking.

1.5 lbs boneless pork center loin

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

olive oil

2 tbsps finely chopped fresh rosemary, plus several sprigs

1/3lb pancetta or bacon, thinly sliced

10-12 small pearl onions, unpeeled

1 tsp butter, softened

1 tsp flour

1 c. chicken stock

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Season pork with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Sear pork on all sides until browned, about 10 minutes total. Remove from heat.

Rub pork with chopped rosemary. Wrap with pancetta, overlapping strips slightly. Use toothpicks to secure pancetta, if necessary. Place a rosemary sprig on top; tie pork with kitchen twine, and remove toothpicks. (I didn't use twine or toothpicks, a benefit of using very thinly sliced pancetta) Return pork to skillet. Scatter onions and rosemary sprigs around pork. Roast in oven, basting occasionally with cooking juices, (see above concerning my results) until it reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven. Transfer pork and onions to a platter; cover to keep warm.

Make pan sauce: In a small bowl, combine butter and flour. Place skillet over medium heat. Add stock, scraping bottom of skillet to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil; reduce liquid slightly, about 2 minutes. Whisk in butter mixture; cook until thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Slice pork, and drizzle with sauce.

Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

Yesterday was our friend's 30th birthday. Her favorite cupcakes are all strawberry, all the time. I like strawberries but generally stray from things flavored with/by strawberries. After preschool, I drove past the Sprinkles cupcakes, thinking how conveniently it is located. But then I remembered I'd have to take two kids out of carseats, drag them into a store full of over-priced sugar, wait in line, then purchase 12 of the $4 a piece cupcakes. So I shook off that image, came home, hit google and voila! Martha Stewart had a recipe for Sprinkles' Strawberry cupcakes!

I think I may become a baker yet, y'all! After I made the batter, I decided to take a small taste. Salmonella be damned! WOW! There really aren't enough explanation points in the universe to show my excitement over this batter. This was so easy and the result was delightful. The cupcakes came out very fluffy and light and the frosting was delicious. I did add an extra tablespoon of strawberry and an extra half cup of powdered sugar to the original recipe, just to give it that extra strawberry kick.

For those of you without preschool aged children, there's this crazy food allergy phenomenon going on these days. When I was a child, home-baked/homemade food was strictly forbidden due to concerns about food handling procedures or possibly that some rouge parent was going to try to poison their children's friends or other such madness. Well luckily, the pendulum has swung. Luckily in some ways I guess. I'm thrilled that schools are back to trusting parents sanity and personal responsibility, and what's better than homemade foods? But the reasoning is almost crazy. Apparently there isn't a bakery in town that can guarantee a peanut free environment. So store bought goods are now strictly forbidden. Anyway, I should total start advertising at the school. Need some homemade cupcakes? Call me! I'll be happy to bake them with the finest ingredients. Peanut free!

You can find the recipe for these delightful cupcakes here.

Vegetable Soup

Last night I had the pleasure of dinner by myself with a glass of wine and a book. This is *very* unusual and was most welcome. I've always enjoyed dining by myself. I like to go to restaurants by myself as well. Sometimes I really miss the days when I was working and I'd go hide at Houston's for lunch because it was highly unlikely anyone from my office would come looking for me there. No, I didn't have any business eating lunch at an expensive restaurant like that. It probably took me the whole day's pay to make up for my lunch. But it was divine. These days, I make no money and generally travel with an entourage of toddlers. Plus sometimes my husband works from home, and he'd totally bust me for extravagant lunches like that.

Last night while the kids watched Aladdin for the 10 billionth time, I hid in the dining room with my dinner, glass of wine, and book. Which also has totally made me make the jump from vampires to faeries. I finished Wicked Lovely in one day mainly because I am obsessed. Granted it is also a young adult novel, but I love the escapism.

As for the blackeyed peas, you can use fresh or dried that you've soaked overnight after cooking them in water for about an hour. Just don't put them in your ham stock raw. Or you can use canned, but I'd rinse them first.

Vegetable Soup

Leftover shank bone from ham, with some meat still attached

Water

large white onion, sliced

1 lb of carrots, peeled and sliced

6 stalks of celery, sliced

2 c. cooked blackeyed peas

8 small red potatoes, peeled and sliced into thin discs

40 or so ounces canned diced tomatoes

22 ounces canned whole kernel sweet corn

salt

pepper

cayenne

Place ham bone in stock pot, cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook 3 hours or so, the longer the better. Remove ham bones with a slotted spoon. Add blackeyed peas, carrots, celery, onion, cook 30 minutes. Add potatoes cook, 10 minutes, add tomatoes and corn, cook another 20 minutes. Season to taste, serve with grilled turkey and cheddar sandwiches.

Brisket with Family Recipe Barbque Sauce

My sister, Amelia, started me making my own brisket. I just don't really remember anyone making briskets growing up in the midwest. I don't even remember hearing the word brisket until I came to college in the great state of Texas. My family has long been barbecue seekers and connoisseurs, but we tended to stick with ribs and chopped beef sandwiches and pulled pork as our staples. In retrospect, I guess that chopped beef came from brisket mixed with sauce, I just don't remember seeing it sliced. My favorite brisket for the record, is the extra moist at Rudy's. And though I like their sauce, it's not my favorite, I'm not sure I've found a sauce in Texas worthy of a favorite. My godmother sometimes brings this Alabama barbecue to the beach with a super thin almost like vinaigrette consistency sauce that I love. And though it's been a long time since I've had it, I have fond memories of Show Me Barbecue sauce.

I finally made the family recipe for my husband and he loved it so much he said, "Bottle it and Sell it." When asking my mama for permission to post the family recipe here, she said, "If Cory likes it so much, why *don't* you sell it, Lane?" Well, I'm pretty sure that it would be totally cost-IN-effective to sell something made from so many already commercially produced products and not raw ingredients. And how on earth would I list my ingredients on the label to meet USDA requirements? I'm pretty sure A-1 Sauce, is not a valid "ingredient." So our family sauce is added to my list of products to re-engineer. Perhaps once I pull off a successful re-engineered version from the basics, I will sell it! But until then, I recommend this method for deliciousness.

8 lb beef brisket
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
paprika
olive oil
white onion, cut into rings
2 Fat Tire beers
1 tsp brown sugar

Season brisket with salt, pepper, and paprika. Cut into two pieces if necessary to fit in your pans. In a large, heavy bottomed pan, heat olive oil on medium high heat. Brown brisket thoroughly on all sides, raising and lowering your heat as needed, to reduce smoking and increase browning.

Cover the bottom of your crock pot with the onion rings. Place browned brisket on top, pour over two beers and sprinkle with brown sugar. Cover and cook on higher heat settings for six hours or more. If your liquid amount seems really full, cook with the lid off for last 45 minutes.

Family Barbecue Sauce

1/2 c. Worcestershire
1/2 c. ketchup
1/2 c. A-1 Sauce
1 c. water
1 c. tomato sauce
1/2 to 1 tsp cayenne
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp liquid smoke
1 tsp brown sugar

Add all ingredients in a sauce pan and cook on low for 20-30 minutes.

Flank Steak With Herb Sauce

This was the week for revisiting recipes I've already blogged about. Maybe I just wasn't feeling creative, but I think I just wasn't feeling on my A-Game. Anyway, we had a great week of food, and luckily all the repeats turned out better the second time around. In early March, I blogged about my experiment using top round steak in place of flank steak. The meat was tough and blah and I was disappointed. I went back to my usual flank steak this time, with great results. In that round, I plated the meal poorly as well as drowned it in sauce, cause I was trying to overcome my meat. This was much better. The meat was tender and juicy and the sauce complementary instead of dominating.

Flank Steak is cooked opposite of the way you normally cook steaks on a grill. The goal is to avoid grill marks, as you don't want your flank steak to curl up and cook unevenly.

Flank Steak

Olive Oil

Kosher Salt

Fresh Ground Pepper

Yep, that's it. All you need. Rub your flank steak in olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat your grill pan on medium high heat. Add flank steak, then turn every couple of minutes, rotating the meat to avoid grill marks. The whole process takes around 10 minutes. Cook to an internal temp of 135, then move to a cutting board and let the meat rest for a full 15 minutes. Cut against the grain, and serve topped with the herb sauce.

Herb Sauce

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp salt

1/2 a bunch flat leaf parsley, stems trimmed, finely chopped

7 sprigs of fresh mint, leaves removed, chopped

3 tbsps. capers

15-20 pitted Nicoise or Kalamata olives, chopped

1 tsp anchovy paste, optional
olive oil

In a small bowl, combine garlic and salt. Mash with a fork to make a paste. Add parsley, mint, capers, anchovy paste, and olives. Cover with olive oil and stir. Let stand at least 30 minutes for flavors to combine. Serve on flank steak.