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.