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.

Yummy Black beans and rice!

I topped myself tonight for black beans and rice. It's a meal that the kids like and we do too.

I made an Adobo Spanish rice according to the package- nothing fancy...

I heated a little olive oil (about 2 tsp) in a pan with a lid. When the oil began to shimmer, I added in 3 cubes of frozen garlic and about 1 C. of diced onion. I sauteed the onion for 3 minutes until they began to brown a little. I added a good couple shakes of Adobo seasoning, a couple pinches of ground pepper and a bay leaf. I found chicken sausage at the market yesterday and added in 4 links to the pan. I let those brown for about 5 minutes and added in 2 cans of black beans. I stirred the beans around until everything was incorporated, then I added in a can of petite diced tomatoes with jalapenos.

I turned the heat to medium low, covered the pan and let everything cook for about 35 minutes. I added in a handful of roughly chopped cilantro and the juice from 1/2 a lime.

While the beans were cooking, I boiled some corn and made a little compound butter with butter, cayenne pepper, chopped cilantro and lime which I smeared on the corn.

The kids ate the rice and surprisingly the beans. I wasn't sure they would eat it with the tomatoes and cilantro, but they did just fine. They would not however eat the sausage...

a long day...

I am pooped! Tuesday's are our long day with after school activities. I went to the market today and planned on making spanish rice and beans, but was just plain lazy today.

My neighbor and I decided to share a pizza with the kids. I heated up some of the soup from yesterday and threw together a salad for us. We finished off the meal with some dark chocolate nonpareils.

I am ready for bed!!!