Chicken Piccata

This was really easy and really yummy! You do have to watch the butter to make sure it doesn't get too brown, but otherwise the recipe is pretty straight forward. I served this over angel hair pasta with a salad for the adults and lima beans for the kids. The kids shied away from the capers, but other than that, it was a hit!





Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, butterflied then cut in half
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour
6 T unsalted butter
5 T extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup capers
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Method:
Complete recipe found on foodnetwork.com, HERE.

Happy Cooking!

Lamb Tagine with Squash and Chickpeas

This was a time consuming dish, but well worth the effort for a special meal. The kids tried it but opted for turkey sandwiches :). I served the lamb two ways: over stone ground grits and over Israeli couscous. You could also serve it over rice, quinoa, regular couscous, or polenta. I used a crockpot liner rather than parchment paper to keep the lamb from drying out, and it worked perfectly. Also, coriander = cilantro for this recipe. I used lamb shanks rather than the cut that the recipe calls for (because that's what my grocery store had), and I left the lamb on the bone until we were ready to eat. The meat literally fell off of the bone. Save this for a cold, rainy weekend day when you can enjoy the smell of the lamb cooking and enjoy a warm hearty meal for dinner.

Ingredients:
4 oz coriander leaves, plus 2 T roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled
2 in piece of ginger, peeled
1 small red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 T extra virgin olive oil
Coarse sea salt
2 1/4 lbs boneless lamb top round cut into 2 in pieces
Pinch of saffron
18 oz chicken stock
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 lb butternut squashed but into 2 in pieces
1 small preserved lemon, finely chopped

Method:
Complete recipe found in Gwyneth Paltrow's It's All Good cookbook. Recipe is also found on hellomagazine.com, HERE.

Happy Cooking!

Roasted Chicken with Harissa, Preserved Lemons & Green Olives

This method is my favorite to use when roasting a chicken. It gets the skin super crispy and the meat juicy and delicious. You can use any sort of rub on the chicken that you like...herbs & olives oil or butter or just plain salt & pepper. If you like something with a kick, try the harissa. It's similar to a chili paste, and it's really yummy. I love adding the honey to mine at the end to give it just a hint of sweetness. If you don't like olives or lemons, you could leave that part off, but I would suggest at least trying it because it's an absolutely delicious combination with the heat of the harissa. Don't let roasting a chicken scare you...you can do it, I promise!!! I served this with mashed potatoes & lima beans as I was feeding it to my children, but you could serve it with quinoa or couscous, and it would be really delicious.

This recipe is inspired by Gwyneth Paltrow's Two-Pan Chicken in her cookbook It's All Good and method inspired by Anne Burrell's found HERE.)

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
1/4 cup harissa paste (ordered off of Amazon)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup chopped olives
1/4 cup preserved lemons in olive oil (ordered off of Amazon)
salt
pepper
honey (optional)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Combine harissa paste & olive oil  and a large pinch of salt & pepper in a small bowl. Rub harissa mixture under the skin of the chicken and then all over. Place chicken in a roasting pan and roast for 15 minutes. Lower the heat to 375 degrees and continue cooking for 15 more minutes. Flip the chicken over and roast for 15 more minutes. Flip the chicken one last time and roast for 15 minutes. (Total cook time is 1 hour, and your chicken will end up the way that you started cooking it.) Chicken is done when the internal temperature is between 160 and 170 degrees. Check this by placing a kitchen thermometer between the leg and the thigh without touching the bone.

While chicken is roasting, combine the olives, preserved lemons, olive oil, and a pinch of salt & pepper in a small bowl.

Let chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving. Serve chicken with olive mixture and honey (optional if you want a sweet taste to cut the harissa).

Happy Cooking!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pots

This dessert was super easy and a little fancier than your run of the mill chocolate chip cookies. I made the mistake of adding all of my ingredients to the hot melted butter, and my chocolate chips totally melted. I should've known better, but I didn't have time for a re-do. They were still really yummy, but I'm sure they would have been better had I taken the time to let the butter cool a bit before adding the other ingredients. Also, maybe my ramekins were bigger than the ones that she used, but it took about 3 times the baking time for mine to be done enough for my family. (PS 180 degrees Celsius is about equivalent to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.) Don't get me wrong, I LOVE ooey gooey cookies, but they were too gooey even for me; so if you try this, you may want to allow for a little more time in case you want the cookie pots a little more done. Serve with your favorite ice cream on top. YUM!

 Recipe from butterbaking.com

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Method:
Complete recipe found on Butter Baking's blog, HERE.

Happy Cooking!

Lobster Club Salad

I totally cheated and bought frozen, pre-cooked lobster tails. The brand I used was Pier 33, and they were REALLY good. I used duck bacon as the recipe suggests, and it was delicious. I had never tried duck bacon before, but it tastes very similar to pork bacon but doesn't get quite as crispy. I found all of the ingredients for this salad at the regular grocery store which I couldn't believe! This is definitely more of a summer salad, but it was special and worthy of a fancy occasion, so I decided to try it for our New Year's Eve's first course. It was perfect!

Adaptation of Gwyneth Paltrow's recipe:

Ingredients:
8 slices duck bacon
2 hearts romaine lettuce
1 avocado, pitted and sliced
2 cups cooked lobster meat, chopped
1 cup small grape tomatoes, halved
Vinaigrette:
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp maple syrup
2 T white wine vinegar
1/4 cup plus 2T extra-virgin olive oil
2 T finely chopped chives
Salt & pepper

Method:
Recipe found on babble.com, HERE.

Happy Cooking!

Butternut Squash Tortellini with Brown Butter Sauce

Oh my word.  I am not kidding when I tell you that this may be the most delicious thing that I've ever made.  It took some effort stuffing each individual wonton wrapper, but we have tons left over in the freezer for a meal that will come together in 4 minutes in the future.  What a wonderful entertaining meal for the fall/holidays.  The cranberries and walnut brown butter makes it extra special, but these ravioli/tortellini are decadently delicious all on their own.

Ingredients:

Squash Tortellini:
1 butternut squash, cubed (about 3 cups)
2 T extra-virgin olives oil, plus 2 T
1 1/2 tsp herbs de Provence
1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
2 large shallots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
4 small amaretti cookies, crushed
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 package small wonton wrappers

Brown Butter Sauce:
3/4 cup butter
2 T torn fresh sage leaves
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries or chopped dried cherries or a mixture of both
1/4 tsp kosher salt plus more to taste
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Method:
Complete recipe from Giada de Laurentiis found on foodnetwork.com, HERE.

Happy New Year, and Happy Cooking!