Pan-Seared BBQ Chicken

Pan-Seared BBQ Chicken

1 lb Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts (thighs work well too)

2 tbsp Olive Oil

1 cup favorite BBQ Sauce

1/4 cup water

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400F. Heat an oven proof skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan. Rinse chicken breasts, cut in half, and season with salt and pepper. Mix water and bbq sauce in a bowl. Place chicken breasts in pan, being sure not to over crowd the pan. Sear on one side until lightly browned. Turn chicken breasts. Pour sauce mix over chicken and place entire pan in oven. Bake for 20 minutes or until the chicken is done throughout.

Cheesy Sausage and Broccoli

It's amazing what you come up with when your goal is to use what you already have in the pantry. This doesn't always work for me, but I came up with the idea for this last night. I was a bit nervous. M likes broccoli, but he doesn't always like it in dishes, and I was afraid that it wouldn't have enough flavor.

Cheesy Sausage and Broccoli
Total Time: 35 minutes

1 12 oz bag frozen steam-in-the-bag broccoli florets (could also steam fresh broccoli)

2 tbsp Olive Oil

1 medium Yellow Onion

2 cloves Garlic

1 lb Chicken Italian Sausage (pork or turkey would work as well)

Microwave 1 bag of steam-in-the-bag broccoli florets per package directions. In a large pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Chop 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic. Add onion to pan and saute until soft. Add garlic and cook one minute longer. Remove casings from chicken sausage.Add sausage to pan and cook until done. Remove from heat.

Cheese Sauce

2 tbsp Butter

2 tbsp All-purpose Flour

1 cup Milk

1/2 cup Shredded Cheese (I used American and Cheddar)

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add 2 tablespoons of flour and whisk until golden. Slowly incorporate 1 cup milk and heat through, stirring frequently. Add 1/2 cup shredded cheese and stir frequently until melted.

Add broccoli and cheese sauce to sausage mixture. Serve over polenta - this would be good over pasta as well. I didn't make enough polenta tonight, so M had seconds over couscous. He said it was good, but it was much better over the polenta.

Polenta

1 1/2 cups Water

1 1/2 cups Milk

3 tablespoons Butter

1 cup Polenta (yellow corn grits)

In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups water, 1 1/2 cups milk, 3 tablespoons of butter to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in 1 cup polenta (yellow corn grits). Stir occasionally until thick and creamy - about 5 minutes.

Savory Yellow Squash Muffins

Because squash is in season right now, I pick some up every time I go to the farmer's market. My husband loves the stuff, and I like buying fresh veggies. But fried squash gets boring after awhile (to me, my husband could live on fried squash, I think.) So I'm constantly on the lookout for new ways to cook squash. A few weeks ago, it was the Squash and Potato Torte. Yesterday, I decided to make a savory squash muffin to go with the lasagna. The original recipe called for 4 3/4 oz of zucchini - I'm not sure exactly how much that is. I grated two 6 inch yellow straight-neck squash, which seemed to be about right. As for the cheese, I used what I had on hand - which happened to be some four cheese Mexican blend, a slice of muenster, and some american cheese slices. I think almost any semi-soft to firm cheese would turn out good though - I didn't have as much shredded cheese on hand as I thought, and had to improvise. :)


Savory Yellow Squash Muffins
(adapted from In Jennie's Kitchen)

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp garlic powder
6 tbsp. very cold butter, cut into cubes
1 cup shredded cheese
1 cup buttermilk*
1 1/2 cups shredded summer squash

makes one dozen

Pre-heat the oven 400 degrees Fahrenheit and flour a muffin tin - I use non-stick baking spray.

Add the first six ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter, and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Add the cheese and pulse briefly to incorporate.

Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in buttermilk until incorporated. Don't over mix, dough may be a bit stiff at this point. Stir in the shredded squash.

 Divide the mixture between the muffin wells, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until light brown on top and a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbles. Run a knife around the edges to release the muffins. Serve warm.


*Tip: I don't keep buttermilk on hand. I don't like to drink it, and I never use an entire quart. Instead of buttermilk, add 1 tablespoon of vinegar (white, apple cider, or lemon or lime juice) to a measuring cup. Add enough milk to equal a cup. Stir gently, and let sit five minutes. Add to recipe.

Sausage and Spinach Lasagna

The weight loss plan is not going well so far - a couple weeks ago, I was in a wedding, and there were lots of good eats that week, including a four course dinner at The Melting Pot, and two catered dinners. The next week was recovery, and last week I was really busy at work, and ended up eating in the cafeteria a lot (they like to think they have healthy food - but the food that they have that's healthy is not very tasty).

I've also had the occasional soda at work -  I typically don't drink caffiene. When I was in college I started having chest pains and palpitations - I was 20, so it scared me a bit. I consulted a doctor, had some tests done, and come to find out, it was just a reaction to caffeine. At the time, I was drinking about one 20oz Mountain Dew a day. These days, I can have a soda every so often (every few weeks or so), and feel fine. I can drink tea no problem (though I usually buy decaf), but one 8oz coffee will have me feeling like crap after a few hours - which sucks, because I love coffee, and the neat flavors are always full caff.

I got inspired to make lasagna last night. I was watching The Chew, and they made a very tasty looking ravioli - which I woulld have loved to make, but I don't have a pasta maker, and with L, I don't really have time to roll pasta by hand. One day though...

So I texted my friends, and we had an impromptu dinner party last night. I made the lasagna and savory squash muffins. We also had french bread,  salad, apple pie, and watermelon. The girls went through 2 bottles of wine (left overs from the wedding). We had a good time - we discussed the parenthood, newlywed's honeymoon adventure, and fun travel destinations.

The lasagna turned out pretty good. Not my husband's favorite, but he doesn't care for spinach. I think I would double the sausage/spinach mix next time though, so I've written the recipe below to reflect that.

Sausage and Spinach Lasagna (inspired by Mario Batali's Grandma's Ravioli)
1 box lasagna noodles
3 tablespoons olive oil,
plus enough to grease the lasagna pan
2 onions, chopped
2 lbs mild italian sausage
1 bag spinach, chopped
32 oz marinara sauce
32 oz Ricotta Cheese
2 cups mozzerella cheese, shredded
1 egg
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Cook lasagna noodles to al dente, according to package directions.

In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft. Add the sausage and cook until it is no longer pink. Stir in the spinach, and cover and cook for about 8 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to cool.

In a large bowl, mix the Ricotta and half of the mozzerella. Add in the sausage mixture and mix to incorporate. Mix in one egg.

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9x13 casserole dish with olive oil. Add a large dollop of sauce, and spread to coat the bottom of the pan. Put a layer of noodles over the sauce, overlapping the edges. Top with sauce, then put six evenly spaced dollops of the ricotta mixture on top and flatten them a bit. The ricotta will spread as it cooks. Repeat the layers twice more, ending with noodles, sauce, and ricotta. Top with remaining mozzerella and the then parmesan cheese. 

Place in the oven and bake until the cheese is melted, the lasagna is bubbly, and the top is lightly browned. About 45 minutes. Remove from the oven, cover lightly with foil and allow to rest for 15 minutes.

Weekend Eats: Brunch for Dinner

Monday morning weigh-in: 177.5

That leaves less than 30 lbs to go. Let's hope this trend continues. :)

This weekend, we had guests over for dinner on Saturday. I had bought yellow crookneck squash at the farmer's market on Thursday, and decided I wanted to make something other than fried squash. Matt loves fried squash, but it's just not my favorite dish, and since it's the only thing I know how to make with squash, it was time to find a new recipe. That, and the red potatoes I had on hand made me think of brunch. I think its because potatoes remind me of hash browns, which leads me to eggs - and the thought of ooey gooey egg yolks entices me every time.

The final dinner (brunch) menu:
Baked Eggs
Herbed Summer Squash and Potato Torte
Al fresco Chicken Sausage - two varieties, Country Sage and Apple Maple, pan fried
Roasted Peaches with Honeyed Ricotta
English Muffins, toasted under a high heat broiler

Baked Eggs
Preheat oven to 350º F. Spray each cup in a muffin tin with cooking spray. Carefully crack an egg in each muffin tin, up to the number of eggs you want. I made 10 for four people, and had one left over. Bake in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes, to desired doneness. I baked them for about 13 minutes, and the white was done, and the yolk was almost done. I'll probably bake them a little less next time.

Squash and Potato Torte 
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, Smitten Kitchen
I pretty much followed the recipe on Smitten Kitchen, but I added a bit of Ricotta, and prepared the entire recipe in a 10" stainless steel skillet. 

1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup Ricotta Cheese
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 pounds Red potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/8-inch-thick rounds
12 ounces yellow crookneck squash or regular yellow or green summer squash, cut into 1/8-inch-thick rounds
8 teaspoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray one deep 10" oven-safe skillet with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside 1/4 cup sliced green onions. Toss remaining green onions, cheese, flour, thyme, salt and pepper in medium bowl to blend.

Layer 1/4 of potatoes in concentric circles in bottom of 1 prepared pan, overlapping slightly. Layer 1/3 of squash in concentric circles atop potatoes. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon oil. Sprinkle with 1/6 of cheese mixture. Repeat with 1/6 of potatoes, then 1/4 of squash and 2 teaspoon oil. Dot with 1/3 of the Ricotta cheese (I tried to spread it, but that didn't work so well). Sprinkle with 1/3 of cheese mixture. Repeat procedure with the remaining potatoes, squash, oil, and cheese mixture, ending with the potatoes and oil.

Cover pans with foil. Bake until potatoes are almost tender, about 75 minutes. Remove foil; bake uncovered until tortes begin to brown and potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes longer. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Cool. Cover with foil and chill. Rewarm, covered with foil, in 350°F oven until heated through, about 30 minutes. - I stopped after the first 75 minutes, and then put it back in the oven to rewarm and brown for about half an hour)

Cut each torte into wedges. Sprinkle wedges with 1/4 cup green onions; serve.  (Makes 8 servings)


Roasted Peaches
Adapted from Gourmeted.com
4 Peaches
2/3 cup sugar
4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400°F. Wash peaches and cut into wedges. Dip cut edges of peaches into a mixture of 1 part lemon juice and 4 parts water (I used lime juice, since I had it on hand). Mix sugar and cinnamon on a plate. Dip cut edges of peaches into sugar and cinnamon. Place in a 8x8 glass baking dish, and add 1/4 cup of water to the bottom. Bake for 20 minutes.


Honeyed Ricotta
2/3 cup ricotta
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of honey

Place ricotta in a small food processor and process until smooth. Mix in vanilla extract and honey (I just added to the processor and ran it a few more times). Transfer to a lidded container and chill until ready to serve.

Creamy Chicken and Rice

Have you ever noticed how cooks have a hard time following a recipe? It seems like we must always change something. Go to any community cooking site and read the comments for a recipe and you'll always find some that say something like "this recipe was great! I added sugar and lemon juice" or something along those lines. It seems we can't resist the urge to make each recipe our own. I'm guilty of this too. I rarely make a recipe exactly as its written. I think experimenting in this way helps the learning process.


I did the same with this recipe - the original recipe called for nutmeg and parsley. I don't really like nutmeg, so I decided to go with a bit more savory flavor, and used sage and thyme.


Creamy Chicken
adapted from The Good Housekeeping Cookbook, 125th Anniversary Edition
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
pinch ground sage
2 cups cooked chicken cut into small pieces
2 cups vegetables (leftover or thawed frozen vegetables)
2 tablespoons fresh thyme


In a medium to large sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, stirring until tender (about 5 minutes). Stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.


With a wire whisk, gradually whisk in milk, salt, pepper, and sage. Over medium-high heat, continue to whisk until it comes to a boil.


Reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, for 5 minutes.


Add chicken and vegetables and heat through, stiring occasionally.


I used leftover chicken from a store-bought rotissere that we had eaten the night before. Then I added a handful of frozen celery, about 2/3 cup of frozen peas, and about 2/3 cup of frozen lima beans, that I let thaw in the fridge, in with the chicken. I think next time I may skip the celery though. We served the chicken over rice, with corn on the cob and peaches on the side. A good, filling comfort meal.

Tips: Freezing Celery

I never need an entire bunch of celery. Recipes only ever call for a couple stalks, and while I like raw celery, I tend to forget I have it. So, I find the best thing to do is to freeze the leftovers for later. Freezing celery is easy. You don't even have to blanch it. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Dice your celery and spread it over the parchment paper in one layer with none of the pieces touching. Place the baking sheet in the freezer and leave until frozen. Use the parchment paper as a funnel to dump the celery into a freezer bag, and pull it out when needed.