Two Thumbs Down

Two new recipes tonight for your dining pleasure, one from Cooks.com and one from Everyday Gourmet.

Of course, Mr. C. likes everything I ever make, God bless him, but Andrew and I opted for cereal.

In our opinion, the chicken had way too much tang, and the rice was spicy, but I think that was because I was out of Cayenne pepper and substituted red pepper.  Andrew and I agreed that we would be willing to try the rice again using the correct spices, but we'll pass on the chicken.

Recipe #1
MEDITERRANEAN LEMON PEPPER CHICKEN
4 chicken breasts
2 lemons
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large sweet onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
2 cups chicken broth or water
1 can chick-peas or garbanzos, drained
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
1 tablespoon Wondra or flour (optional)

Cut lemons into 2 halves each. Rub chicken with one lemon half.

In a large Dutch oven, saute onion in olive oil until soft and golden colored.

Rub chicken with lemon pepper. Sear chicken on both sides in the onion and olive oil. Add garlic and saute for 1 more minute or until garlic is lightly colored. Add broth or water and drained chick-peas or garbanzos, the juice from the lemons and salt and pepper, to taste.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 40 minutes or just until chicken is tender (depends upon size of chicken breasts).

If a thicker sauce is desired, stir flour (or Wondra) into sauce during final 15 minutes of cooking. 10 minutes before serving, stir in parsley (save a pinch for garnishing). Taste and adjust seasoning adding salt and pepper to taste.

Serve chicken with chick-peas or garbanzos on the side; top with sauce and a sprinkle of parsley.
Leftovers can be refrigerated in the sauce and served the next day over pasta or rice or sprinkled with mozzarella and baked until cheese melts and chicken has reheated.
*My chicken looked like soup for quite a while, as you can see.

Recipe #2

 LOW COUNTRY PILAF
2 C long-grain white rice
2 C low-sodium beef stock
1½ C water
1 medium-sized
onion, minced
1 small red bell
pepper, minced
2 celery ribs, minced
3 cloves garlic,
minced
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
¼ cayenne pepper
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp minced parsley

In a medium-sized pot, heat olive oil and butter until hot. Add
onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Season the vegetables with
salt and pepper and sauté until they begin to soften, approximately 3
to 4 minutes.

Add rice, dried oregano, dried basil and cayenne pepper to the pot.
Season the rice with salt and pepper. Using a wooden spoon, mix
the ingredients until everything is fully incorporated. Continuing to
stir, allow the mixture to cook for one minute.

Add beef stock and water to the pot and allow it to come to the boil.
Cover pot and reduce heat to its lowest setting. Allow rice to cook on
low for 20 minutes. Do not uncover the pot during this time.

When 20 minutes have elapsed, uncover the pot and fluff the rice
with a fork. Taste and re-season if necessary. Mix in the parsley
and allow the pot to sit off the heat (covered) for 5 minutes before
serving.

The Real Scoop
by Andrew
This meal had no color.  Brown rice and brown chicken is not fun to look at.

It was too many flavors competing with each other on the same plate.

In the end, my bowl of Life cereal was good.

Cracker Brittle Crunch

 


What you'll need:
1 sleeve of saltine crackers
1 cup of butter
1 cup of brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
Nuts




Instructions:

Line baking sheet with foil, spray with cooking spray.
In saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar.  Bring to a boil for three minutes.
Remove from heat and add baking soda, stirring well.
Pour over crackers and bake 6-8 minutes.

Remove from the oven and top with nuts.
Cool and break into pieces.

The Real Scoop
by Andrew
These were very sticky and sweet.  I think it should be called "Ghetto Peanut Brittle."



Out of the mouths of babes.

Another Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

• 4 cups broccolini florets, chopped broccoli rabe or broccoli florets
• Salt
• 1 pound whole wheat penne, twists or elbows or brown rice pasta
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 shallots, very finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 small Fresno chili pepper or red cherry pepper, seeded and very finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• Pepper
• 1 1/2 cups shredded yellow sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup aged Gouda cheese, shredded
• 1 cup Parmigiano Reggaino cheese, freshly shredded
• A few sprigs of fresh thyme, finely chopped

Preparation:
Bring a few inches of water to a boil. Salt the water and parboil broccolini, rabe or broccoli for 4-5 minutes. Drain and cold shock, then dry on kitchen towels.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta and undercook the pasta by about 2 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 425°F.
Heat a saucepan over medium heat with the EVOO and butter. Sauté the shallots, garlic and chilies for 2-3 minutes, then add the flour and stir for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and season the sauce with salt and pepper; melt in the cheddar and Gouda.
Combine the pasta with the broccolini, rabe or broccoli and the sauce and transfer to a baking dish. Top with the Parmigiano Reggaino cheese, sprinkle with fresh thyme and bake until brown and bubbly.


Of course, I was out of broccoli when I made this.

I was also out of thyme.

We all thought it needed more salt and pepper, but it was pretty good overall.  The only complaint I had was the cost.  With all of those cheeses, it became a bit pricey.  At any rate, it dressed up our meager fish sticks and asparagus.

The Real Scoop
by Andrew

Now THAT'S CHEESY!

Breakfast Curls

What's needed:
2 cans croissants
1 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 cup of nuts
1/2 cup melted butter

Instructions:
Mix together dry ingredients.
Roll up croissants as usual.
Dip in butter then roll in the dry mixture.

Bake at 375 degrees till golden, approx. 10 minutes.

This picture doesn't do justice to the yumminess.  These tasted like Monkey Bread!

Southern Shortbread Cookies

1/2 cup of softened butter
5 tablespoons of sugar
1 cup of flour
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
whole almonds


Cream butter and sugar.  Add flour, salt and vanilla.

Roll into small balls, then flatten by pressing an almond into the top.

Bake 20 minutes or till golden.

The recipe only made as many cookies as shown (plus the three for neighborhood children I used as taste-testers).  That's 14 cookies total.  BOO!  The recipe said it made 30 cookies, and as you can see, I made them small...not much bigger than the almond on top.

Also, since this dough had no liquid but the vanilla, they were very difficult to roll into balls.  In fact, I had to squeeze the dough into balls.

They were tasty, but I probably won't make these again.

This recipe was borrowed from Eat Dessert First! by Sue Ellen Cooper.