artichokes and chicken

My mom sent us 6 globe artichokes from California! We love them and they aren't always so easy to find on the east coast.

I reheated some of the roasted chicken I had made the other night and we had a quiet dinner. My mom also sent us some beautiful mangos which we ate for dessert.

I'm off for a snuggle and some Friday night cartoons.

Herbed orzo with feta, pine nuts, and chicken

It was a quiet day here today, I made banana muffins which the girls dug into after school, I have a good recipe if anyone's interested, let me know.

I am doing a fundraiser for the Autism Society tomorrow night down at Christopher Peacock Cabinetry and am going to be doing a quick cooking demo as well as a book signing. I wanted to share my recipe for a great main dish that travels well and can be prepared in advance for a buffet, picnic or outing.

Here's the recipe:

Serves 4-6

8 ounces orzo pasta
1 C. frozen peas
¼ C. olive oil
¼ C. fresh lemon juice
½ C. chopped green onions (about 3 stalks)
2 Tbs. chopped fresh mint
2 frozen garlic cubes
3 frozen basil cubes
3 frozen parsley cubes
½ tsp. ground pepper (or to taste)
pinch of Kosher salt
8 oz. crumbled feta cheese
1 C. toasted pine nuts
2 C. cooked chicken breast strips (Trader Joe’s makes good ones)-chopped

Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add the orzo and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain under cold running water. Add frozen peas.

In a large bowl, toss the orzo with olive oil and lemon juice. Add the green onions and mint. In a small bowl mash the frozen garlic, parsley, and basil cubes in 1 Tbs. of olive oil with the back of a fork, and add to the orzo. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add crumbled feta cheese, pine nuts and chopped chicken breast. Gently stir to combine.

Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.

*This dish is also delicious with grilled shrimp or salmon.

I just found a container of freshly poached salmon from Trader Joe's which I am anxious to try. I hope it's good as it would be a great addition to the pantry.

I'll let you know.

Sweet and Sour pork tenderloin

It's been one of those weeks where I feel like I've been going to the supermarket every day, and it's only Tuesday!!

I bought 2 pork tenderloins today and marinated them in 1 1/2 C. of store bought sweet and sour sauce and 1 C. of pineapple juice. I sliced an onion and baked the pork, sauce and onion in the oven at 425 in a deep casserole (or brownie) dish for about 35 minutes.

I also made some white rice and a salad.

One daughter had a total hissy fit when she saw the dinner and was promptly sent to her room, and the other one made a face at first and after insisting she eat 1 bite, she proceeded to eat 3 slices of the tenderloin.

We enjoyed the pork and rice and I am gearing up for the next 10 years of female adolescence!!!

Any advice for maintaining sanity???

Roasted Parmesan potatoes wedges

The girls go back to school tomorrow-yippee!!

I made them fish sticks tonight but added a little cornmeal to the seasoned flour mixture and it was crispy and flavorful. I also made little roasted potatoes wedges which were really easy and pretty fast.

I preheated the oven to 500, layed a silpat mat on a cookie sheet and cut 4 yukon gold potatoes into 1/8th's, don't worry too much about their exact size, they should be small and evenly sized. I drizzled a little olive oil over them, added a good pinch of black pepper and a sprinkling of Adobo. I baked them for 10 minutes, then tossed them around on the sheet so they could brown on all sides, added about 3 Tbs, of grated Parmesan cheese and baked them for another 10 minutes.

They were brown and crisp and went well with our fish sticks, steamed green beans and pineapple which we all enjoyed tonight.

Scallops with leek, corn and carrots

It snowed here-finally!!! We spent the day in and out of snow clothes! We had dinner with friends tonight and I had some frozen sea scallops that I had bought at Costco, Trader Joe's used to sell them, but stopped.

I defrosted the scallops in a bowl of hot water for about 5 minutes. While the scallops thawed, I heated 1 tbs. of olive oil in a large nonstick pan on high. I add in 1 leek that I had thinly sliced and rinsed in a bowl of cold water to get the dirt out. While that sauteed, I cut 2 peeled carrots on the diagonal into small pieces (maybe 1") and threw those into the pan with the leeks. I added in 1/2 C. of chicken stock, covered and let cook for about 5 minutes, or until the carrots were slightly soft. I had 2 ears of leftover cooked corn from last night's dinner which I cut the kernels off, and added to the pan. I added in a pinch of salt and a good large pinch of black pepper. Then I removed the whole mixture from the pan.

I drained the water from the scallops, sliced them in half lengthwise and sprinkled a little of my seasoned flour on each side. I added in another tbs. of olive oil to the pan on high and added in the scallops. They cook very quickly and should only be turned once. They take about 45 seconds per side. The little bit of flour on each side will give the scallops a nice brown crust. I flipped them once and added in the juice from 1/2 a lemon before removing them from the pan. I added the vegetable mixture to the top of the scallops and served them.

They were amazing. The kids ate pears for dinner- go figure!

turkey tacos and super fast black bean soup

What a joy to have a brand spankin' new clean fridge! I made ground turkey tacos tonight and black bean soup which is soooo easy, my kids loved it!

The turkey tacos were nothing fancy, I just browned ground turkey in a pan and added in a packet of taco seasoning. I served the tacos with spanish rice, flour tortillas and some corn on the cob that I had steamed.

Here's my recipe for black bean soup:

Heat 1 tbs. olive oil in a medium sized pot on medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add in 2 cubes frozen garlic and either 1 finely chopped shallot, 1 C. of thinly sliced leek or 1/2 C. of diced onion. Saute for 3 minutes or until the onion begins to take on some color. Add in 2 cans of black beans and stir. Next, add in 3 C. of chicken stock, a pinch of cumin, a pinch of chili powder, salt and ground pepper. Stir until combined. Bring to a low boil and add in 1-2 cubes frozen cilantro. Let boil on medium heat for 10 minutes. Blend with a handheld blender right in the pot until thoroughly smooth. Let cook another 10 minutes and squeeze in the juice from 1/2 a lime.

Serve.

I added in some hot sauce to my bowl of soup, and you can add a dollop of soup cream to the top, or a few leaves of fresh cilantro if you have them laying around.

**You could also get really fancy and combine 2 cubes of frozen cilantro to 1/2 C. sour cream and serve that atop the soup.

Fridge on the fritz!

Our refrigerator broke on Saturday and coincided with the beginning of school vacation. UGH!!! Thankfully we had another smaller fridge in the basement and we didn't lose too much food. We've had this one for at least 9 years and never did much to maintain it, except kept it clean and changed the water filter.

We ventured out first on the internet to look at new models, how overwhelming- what size, what color, ice maker, blah, blah, blah... I am a touchy visual person so we went to Sears today to look at new refrigerators. We had narrowed down our choices a little and had looked at Consumer Reports before venturing out.

It took us about 45 minutes even after having done all of that homework. We choose a Stainless, energy efficient, ice maker, big one. I can't remember which brand we got, but I think it was GE or Kenmore. I was surprised how little difference there was between the more expensive models and the less expensive ones.

The best news is that it is being delivered tomorrow!!! I will admit that I am looking forward to starting with a new fridge, I LOVE to organize!

We ate at the Diner last night and I have some Bulgogi (Korean thinly sliced beef) I bought at Trader Joe's that I am going to cook tonight with some couscous and edamame.

Pasta with mushrooms and truffle oil

We had a really nice relaxing day today, the kids even bundled up and rode their bikes outside. We ate dinner with our neighbors tonight and I have been in the mood for truffle oil, so I made a really simple pasta. Here's the recipe.

Boil a pot of water for pasta, I used linguine.

While the water boils, melt 2 tbs unsalted butter in a pan on high heat. Rinse 1 package of button mushrooms and quarter. When the butter is melted, add the mushrooms and saute for 5-6 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and a couple grinds of black pepper. When the pasta is just al dente, add it to the mushrooms. Stir to incorporate and add 3 tbs. of truffle oil. The truffle oil is very strong, so don't be tempted to add much more. Add in 1 handful of chopped fresh parsley and about 1/4 C. of parmesan cheese. Serve.

We had some mahi mahi that I bought at Trader Joe's the other day. It was marinated and frozen and I let it thaw in the fridge, then I baked it at 400 for 15 minutes. It was ok, a little tough for my taste, but fine.

The pasta was a hit and we all enjoyed it.

Seriously easy chicken parmesan!

I went to Trader Joe's yesterday to buy the stuff to make Spanikopita (recipe to follow) and came out with a couple cool new products. One of them is the frozen cooked breaded chicken tenderloin breasts. I am always looking for healthy quick alternatives and the kids like my chicken fingers so I tried these tonight.

They are pretty healthy, 150 cal for 2 pieces and 4.5 grams of fat. You simply bake them in the oven at 400 for 15 minutes. They turned out crisp and tender. They ate them up and were asking for more, but I had only made 2 pieces.

I made a quick chicken parm for the grown-ups. I took 4 pieces of the chicken, placed it in a shallow cooking pyrex dish, put some tomato sauce on top (about 1 C.) and 1/2 C. shredded mozzarella cheese which I keep in the freezer. I baked the whole thing in the oven at 400 while the other chicken cooked for 20 minutes. Before I took it out of the oven, I put it on broil for 2 minutes to brown the cheese. It was great and sooooo easy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've just returned from my daughters' school where the little performed a bunch of adorable songs and dance!

In an effort to hear from those of you who may read the blog (is there anyone out there??) but not respond, I am now taking requests. If there is a recipe you'd like or have a cooking/dinner question PLEASE ask me!

I went to Trader Joe's today to buy 2 things and came out with 3 grocery bags full of stuff! That store does me in. I did buy some good looking things, frozen Mahi Mahi, I want to try my hand at frozen fish again, as well as some pre-breaded chicken breasts that looked rather healthy.

I got a great recipe for Spanikopita (Greek Spinach Pie) that I am going to make in the next day or two. I will tell you now that this will NOT be an easy recipe, working with phyllo dough is tough, it breaks easily, so you have to work rather fast.

I'll give the recipe after I see how it turns out. I also bought some seasoned bulgogi, which is a korean dish of thinly sliced beef in a marinade. I've bought marinated beef from TJ's before and it's turned out to be quite good.

Pork chops and apple sauce

This is one of my husband's favorite dinners and since he won't be home for valentine's day we are going to have an early family dinner tonight.

Preheat the oven to 450. If you have a heavy Le Creuset pan, use it, if not, use a skillet, then transfer to a cookie sheet.

Heat 1 Tbs. of oil in the pan on medium high heat. While the oil heats, place 1 C. of panko and 1 tsp. garlic salt onto a plate. Rinse the pork chops, spread a little bit of dijon mustard on each side of the chop and dredge them in the panko mixture.

You can use bone-in or boneless chops, but buy thick cut ones.

Cook the chops for 3-4 minutes one each side or until they begin to turn golden. Turn the chops only once.

Transfer the pan with the chops into the oven and bake for about 12 minutes.

I am going to serve this with potato latkes, apple sauce and boiled edamame.

Chicken thighs with mushrooms and onions

I tried a new recipe tonight based on something I saw on TV that had a 1 hour and 40 minute cook time- who has time for these?

Anyhow, here is my very tasty version of what I saw:

Heat a large nonstick pan on medium high heat. Add 1 Tbs. olive oil. While the oil heats, season the skin side of 4 chicken thighs with garlic salt, paprika and a pinch of pepper. When the oil shimmers add the thighs, skin side down to the pan and cook for 5 minutes or until the skin becomes golden brown. Turn the chicken and cook an additional 4-5 minutes.

While the chicken cooks, thinly slice 1 onion and rinse 1 package of sliced button mushrooms.

Remove the chicken from the pan (it will NOT be cooked through yet) and add in the mushrooms, onion and 1 Tbs. of unsalted butter. Stir around until the butter has melted. Add 1 Tbs. of flour to the pan and stir until the flour has incorporated, maybe 30 seconds. Add in 1 Tbs. of tomato paste or ketchup and 1 C. chicken stock- stir. The flour will thicken up the sauce almost immediately.

Add the chicken thighs back to the pan, reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for 15 more minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, boil water to make wide egg noodles. They only take about 8 minutes to cook, toss in some frozen peas and a little butter and cover with foil until the chicken is ready.

Serve the chicken and the sauce over the pasta and peas. We all loved it, except for 1 kid who doesn't like anything at the moment!!!

Broiled T-Bones

My clients often ask me what my favorite cut of beef is. I have 3. 1 is a boneless, NY strip steak, they are tender, juicy and very flavorful. 2 is a skirt or hangar steak if you can find them, and my 3rd is a T-Bone. You get a little porterhouse and a little filet.

I will say that filet is NOT my favorite cut of meat, it's too soft and not as flavorful as other cuts.

Tonight I broiled 2 t-bone steaks for us for dinner with a little pasta and some fresh cut veggies.

It's very easy to do. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Move the oven rack to the top 1/3 of the oven and turn the oven to high broil. While the oven heats, drizzle just a little olive oil on the steaks and mash 2 cubes of frozen garlic on each of the steaks. Add a pinch of salt and a good couple grinds of pepper. You will add more salt after the steak has cooked through.

Cook the steaks for about 4-5 minutes per side and serve. It doesn't get much easier than that. This method also works with the NY strip steak and the hangar steak, although the hangar takes about 1 minute less per side.

We are going to see a great folk singer tomorrow night, Lucy Kaplansky, and I am looking forward to it. Kirk will be left to his own devices for dinner with the girls... :)

Braised cod with capers and tomatoes

I made dinner with my neighbor tonight and her kids. I had some chicken tenderloins which I tossed in with olive oil, kosher salt and a little pepper and grilled in her grill pan.

While that cooked, I shared my recipe for braised cod. Cod cooks very quickly and this recipe is delicious. The kids wanted NO part of it, but we enjoyed it!

Heat 1 C. of white wine in a deep pan with a lid. Add 2 cubes frozen garlic. Season fish with a pinch of salt and pepper. When the wine begins to boil, add fish in a single layer, a handful of capers and about 1 C. of halved cherry tomatoes. Cover and let cook for 8 minutes.

Remove fish from the pan and cook down the liquid for another 4 minutes. Add in 2 tbs. unsalted butter. The reduction should be thick and saucy with the capers, tomato and white wine.

My friend made some rice and a salad and we all enjoyed dinner together.

Crispy oven baked chicken wings

The website has been updated with new pictures as well as the spring/summer class schedule at Christopher Peacock Cabinetry. There are some great new classes, hope to see you there soon.

The girls love the chicken wings from Stew Leonard's, but I know they are deep fried and wanted to try to make a healthier version. These were very crispy and surprisingly easy to make.

Here's my recipe for crispy oven "fried" chicken wings;

Preheat oven to 425. Line a cookie sheet with a Silpat mat. If you don't have one use aluminum foil. Melt 1/2 stick of unsalted butter. In a bowl, combine, 1/2 C. bread crumbs, 1/2 C. panko, 1/4 C. seasoned flour. Seasoned flour is simply 1 part seasoning salt such as Lawry's or Adobo to 3 parts flour. Add a pinch of kosher salt and pepper to the mixture and stir to combine.

Rinse the chicken wings and once the butter has melted, quickly dip each piece of chicken in the butter then thoroughly roll the wings in the crumb mixture. Lay each piece on the cookie sheet.

Bake for 35-40 minutes. Wings will be crispy and juicy.

We ate this with a bag of steamed frozen veggies from Trader Joe's and the leftover pilaf from last night's dinner.

Lamb chops, pilaf and a side of sassy

I took Abby to the market with me today and she helped me choose some dinner options for the week. Tonight she wanted lamb chops and green beans.

I made a box of Near East Rice Pilaf, steamed some fresh green beans and roasted some little lamb chops. I preheated the oven to 450, lined a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and placed each chop on the foil. I made a paste of 2 cubes of frozen garlic, a teaspoon of dijon mustard, a couple shakes of Greek Seasoning and a pinch of salt and pepper. I used the back of a fork to combine all of ingredients, then I spooned a little bit of it on each chop.

I cooked the chops for about 10 minutes, NOT turning. They were very small chops and cooked quickly. The girls devoured them, ate 3 a piece. The rice wasn't a huge hit, but they ate a couple spoonfuls each.

We are having dessert wars at the moment, will keep you posted who wins.

Cooking with kids

We had a semi-successful sleep over event last night- 1 made it, the other had to be picked up at 11 p.m.-ugh!

Anyhow, one of the girls friends said she was interested in learning how to cook, so I suggested they come up with a menu and we'd cook it tonight. They opted for tacos.

There were 5 girls ranging in age from 3-5 to 7. Everyone had a job from putting shredded cheese in a bowl to helping brown the beef in the pan. They also set the table, and even made place cards. They were really proud of themselves and for a special treat, I let me each make chocolate dipped mini pretzel sticks.

They were all so focused and not only did they really enjoy dinner, but THEY even volunteered to clear and wash the dishes!!! I was shocked. They all worked together so beautifully and enjoyed having such an active role in the kitchen. I have a cute video I took of them doing dishes, I will try to add to the blog.

Shrimp scampi with an empty nest.

Both girls were invited to sleep overs tonight and Kirk is on a trip! Wow... We had pizza at a friends house tonight and she had a great salad dressing from Trader Joe's. I am not normally a big fan of bottled dressings, but this one was good. It's a low-fat cilantro lime dressing. It was tangy and didn't taste too bottled.

A friend hired me to cook dinner for his wife and friends last night as a belated birthday present. I made a delicious lentil soup with frizzled pancetta, and shrimp scampi over linguine that was delicious and very simple. Here's the recipe:

Add 1/4 C. olive oil and 1/2 stick unsalted butter to a large nonstick pan on medium high heat. Add 5 cloves thinly sliced garlic to the pan and 3 sliced cherry peppers. The peppers have a delicious flavor with just a little heat. Saute the peppers until they begin to brown, about 5 minutes.

Add in 2 pounds of raw shrimp to the pan and cook for about 45 seconds per side before turning. Add in about 1/4 C. capers making sure to drain the liquid before adding in. Stir to combine. Add in a good pinch of salt and ground black pepper and a small pinch of red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper.

Before the shrimp begin cooking, boil a large pot with water and cook a package of linguine until just al dente. When pasta is cooked, add to shrimp and serve with chopped fresh parsley and grated Parmesan cheese.