Chicken Dinner

Chicken Piccata

I was trying to think of a new way to make chicken for dinner.  I have always loved the flavor of the sauce on Chicken Piccata.  The lemon and the wine combine in a creamy and delicious sauce.  This is my attempt to recreate the recipe at home.

Chicken piccata often calls for thin cut chicken or chicken scaloppini.  Instead of paying more per pound for thinner chicken breasts, I did the work myself.  Just pound the chicken until it is as thin as you prefer (about 1/2 inch).  I got to use my new Pampered Chef meat tenderizer that my step-mom got for me.  It makes this part so easy!

Make sure you brown the chicken well and then let it simmer away in the sauce while it finishes cooking.

Serve it over whole wheat angel hair pasta using the sauce to dress the pasta, or serve it with roasted potatoes and green beans.  

Chicken Piccata (adapted from FoodNetwork.com)

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 T all purpose flour

1-3 T olive oil or cooking spray

1 T chopped garlic

Half of a lemon, juice and zest

1/2 C chicken broth (homemade or store bought)

1/2 C dry white wine

1 T capers

1 T butter

3 T fresh parsley or 1 T dried

Directions:

Pound chicken breasts so they are about 1/2 inch thick.  Salt and pepper as you like (I do 1 t kosher salt and 1/2 t cracked black pepper).  Sprinkle 1 T of the flour to coat both sides of the chicken breasts.  

Heat a large pan with olive oil over medium heat.  Add the chicken to the hot pan and let it brown about 3 minutes and then flip and let the other side brown.  Remove the chicken from the pan.  Add a little more oil if the pan looks dry.  Add the garlic and let it cook for about a minute.  Add the wine and scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pan.  Let it cook out until there is about half of the wine left.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining flour, lemon juice and zest and the chicken broth.  Add to the pan and let it simmer and reduce for a few minutes.  Add the capers and chicken back into the sauce and let it simmer another 2-3 minutes.  

Plate chicken and pour sauce over.  Garnish with parsley.  Serve over pasta or with my  Roasted Parmesan Potatoes.   

Covered in White Roses

Coconut Pecan Cream Cake

Finally, I completed my third year of dental school!  Only one more to go!  With a few weeks off, I planned a trip to visit my family in Ohio.  It was my step-mom's birthday the weekend before, so I wanted to make a cake for her since I'm rarely in town to celebrate family birthdays.  I brainstormed for a few days and took an informal poll of my friends for ideas.  I finally decided on a coconut and pecan cake with a creamy coconut custard filling.

I really wanted to decorate the cake without just piping out designs and a 'Happy Birthday' message.  I looked to a blog that my cousins discovered for making beautiful roses (and it's so fast and easy!).  You can find the tutorial here.  It didn't turn out as well as the one in the tutorial, but it still looked pretty.  

The cake recipe is my version of a coconut cake.  It's essentially no more than a simple white cake with toasted coconut in it.  Toasting the coconut is key so it doesn't get lost in the cake.  Just spread it on a baking sheet and toast it in the oven at about 375 degrees until you start to smell it (or as soon as it turns golden brown).  Be careful, it burns quickly!

This is the golden brown and toasty coconut we want to maximize its flavor.

 And, of course, you'll toast the pecans the same way...

I wanted a really creamy filling, so I used a basic vanilla custard recipe from Food Network's website.  I just added coconut and coconut rum to the custard to add more flavor and texture to the creamy filling.  

I chose to do a three layered cake to get the most out of my filling.  I just layered as much custard as I could between the three layers.  Make sure you chill it after this step so that the custard isn't oozing everywhere when you are trying to frost the cake.  

Finally, I made a very stiff frosting and covered the cake in a crumb coat.  After letting that chill, I attempted the roses...I need to buy a larger tip to make bigger roses, but this will do for my first attempt.  I know my family won't judge too harshly ;).

It looked a little better after a trip to the fridge...

 Coconut Pecan Cream Cake

Ingredients:

4 egg whites (at or near room temperature)
2 1/4 C flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
1/2 t salt
1/3 C vegetable oil
1 3/4 C sugar
1 1/3 C buttermilk
1/2 C toasted coconut
1/2 C chopped toasted pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour 3 round cake pans and set aside.  Stir/sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  In a mixing bowl, beat oil and sugar together.  Add vanilla.  Add egg whites, one at a time.  Alternatively add flour and buttermilk (ending with buttermilk).  Mix in toasted coconut and pecans.   Spread batter evenly into 3 prepared pans.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Allow cakes to cool completely.

While cakes are cooling, make the coconut custard and  frosting (recipes below).

Placed about 1/4 to 1/3 C of coconut custard filling between the layers of cake.  Allow stacked cake to chill for 1 hour.  Cover with a thin layer of frosting (crumb coat) and chill for another hour.

Take the cake out of the fridge and decorate with the roses using the Rose Cake Tutorial or frost however you desire!

Keep the cake in the fridge.  About 2 hours before you are serving the cake, let it stand at room temperature.

Frosting Recipe (you can use your own frosting recipe, just make sure it's a stiff frosting if you're doing the roses!)

Ingredients:
8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 C butter, softened
1-2 T milk
1 1/2 T vanilla extract
4 C powdered sugar (maybe more)

Directions:
Beat cream cheese and butter to combine.  Add 1 T milk and vanilla.  Add powdered sugar in gradually until a smooth, stiff frosting comes together.  Add more milk if it becomes too thick and more powdered sugar if it doesn't quite hold peaks.  This is a very sweet frosting, so I don't recommend it on an overly sweet cake recipe.


Coconut Custard Recipe from FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients:

2 C milk
1 t vanilla extract
6 egg yolks
2/3 C sugar
1/4 C cornstarch
1 T butter
1 C cream
1 T coconut rum
1/2 C sweetened coconut (I used untoasted here)

Directions:
Heat the milk and vanilla to a simmer over medium heat.  Remove pan from heat and set aside.  In a separate bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until it's light and fluffy.  Add the cornstarch and whisk until it's smooth.  Whisk in 1/4 C of the hot milk mixture to bring it up to temperature (you don't want to scramble the egg yolks).  Whisk in the rest of the hot milk.

Strain mixture back into the saucepan.  Whisk constantly over medium-high heat until it is thick.  Remove from the heat and stir in the butter.  Chill custard in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.

Glazes and truffles and frostings, oh my!

Chocolate Ganache

Ahhh...chocolate ganache is a beautiful and delicious thing.  It is a perfect filling, it makes amazing truffles, glazes a cake beautifully or creates a rich chocolate frosting.  I use ganache in each of these different applications because it is so easy to make.  Memorize this recipe (which shouldn't be difficult with 2 ingredients) and use it in as many ways as you can imagine!

You start with heavy cream and semi-sweet chocolate (you can use different kinds of chocolate if you wish).  I use the microwave because it makes my life even easier and avoids the inevitable milk boil-over that will take forever to clean.  Just heat the cream and pour it over the chocolate.  That's it.  The heat from the cream will slowly melt the chocolate.

I let it sit for about 5 minutes to give the cream a chance to melt the chocolate.

 After waiting 5 minutes, start slowly stirring the mixture.  If you haven't made ganache before you may think you completely messed it up at this point.  It looks like a big mess of chocolate floating in the cream.

 Just keep stirring and it will begin to transform...

When you are done, you're left with a beautiful silky, shiny chocolate ganache.  You will be able to see your reflection in it as you try not to lick the bowl!

 I put mine in a container to freeze for when I make my Almond Joy Cake (coming soon).

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips (or any chocolate, chopped)

2 C heavy cream

Any extracts or liqueurs you desire

Directions:

Place chocolate in a large heat proof bowl.  Heat cream in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stove top until simmering (about 3-4 minutes in the microwave).  Pour cream over chocolate.  Let it sit for 5 minutes.  Stir gently until the ganache is smooth and shiny.  Add any extracts or liqueurs for flavoring (about 2 T per recipe) at this time.  Allow ganache to cool for 30 minutes and then...

Pour it over a cake as a glaze or a filling between layers, whip it with a mixer to max a rich frosting, allow it to completely set (few hours or overnight) and form into truffles.  I plan to post recipes using this ganache recipe in the future!

Batter by the spoonful

Cake Batter Dip

I first made this recipe to take to a Book Club meeting.  I wanted to take a sweet treat, but I was out of eggs and flour!  I had a few ingredients that I though may work, so I just threw them together.  I usually loathe using boxed cake mixes, but my empty pantry forced me to use the one box I had on hand.  To my surprise, the cake mix was delicious and everyone loved it!  I made it a second time along with this Brownie Batter Dip.  These dips are so easy and all you need to take with them is some fruit, pretzels and graham crackers.  They will go very fast!

Cake Batter Dip

Ingredients:

4 T butter, room temperature

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

2 C  boxed white cake mix

1/4 C powdered sugar

1 container thawed Cool Whip

1/2-3/4C sprinkles (I used the star sprinkles you see in the picture.  They have the best texture and hold up well in the dip)

Directions:

Beat butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth.  Add the cake mix and powdered sugar gradually.  Fold in the Cool Whip and beat it once more QUICKLY (about 10 seconds).  Fold in the sprinkles and transfer to a serving dish.  Top with the remaining sprinkles.  

Serve it with anything you think would taste good dipped in cake batter!  Graham crackers were a huge hit with my friends.  Pretzels and strawberries went well with the Brownie Batter Dip.

You'll want s'more

S'more Cookies

These cookies were inspired by a cookie shop in the town where I went to school.  It is called The Cookie Jar in Bowling Green, Ohio.  They would deliver warm cookies and milk right to your apartment!  We would always eagerly anticipate the day that the 'Cookie of the Day' would be S'more cookies.  They were so delicious that I had to try to replicate them at home so we could eat them more than just once a month!  Ever since I started making this recipe, it has become a huge hit.  I get requests for these cookies often.  I have taken many suggestions and I think I finally found the perfect S'more Cookie recipe (second to The Cookie Jar, of course).

S'more Cookies

Ingredients:


3/4 C butter
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla extract
3/4 C flour
1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 1/2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 C mini marshmallows
2 Hershey's bars

Directions:


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Beat butter for about one minute with an electric mixer.  Add sugars and beat until fluffy and light in color.  Add egg and vanilla.

Whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, salt, baking soda and baking powder.  Add the dry ingredients in increments.  Add in the chocolate chips and mix until combined.  Put the dough in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.  This will help the cookies keep their shape so they don't spread out and get too thin.

Drop heaping tablespoons of dough on cookie sheets and bake for about 8 minutes.  Meanwhile, roughly chop the Hershey's bars and have the mini marshmallows handy.  Remove cookies from the oven and quickly press a few marshmallows and a few pieces of Hershey's bar on each cookie.  Return them to the oven for about 3 minutes more or until the marshmallows just start to puff up and toast.  Any longer and the marshmallows will get hard and tough to chew after they cool.  Remove from the oven and allow them to cool for a minute or two.  Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.




Make plenty of these.  Trust me, you're gonna want s'more... :)

Shipping Birthday Wishes

Birthday Celebration Cookies








There were two family birthdays to celebrate this week, so I threw together these cookies to send with the usual birthday card.  I was trying to achieve that great taste of cake batter with cookies so they would be easier to eat and to ship!

I have been experimenting a lot with cake batter flavors, so I plan to post a few more similarly inspired recipes soon.  These cookies are a great start, but the dough is addicting :).  How can you resist a cookie dough that tastes like you're licking the bowl of your Kitchen Aid after making a delicious cake?

Birthday Celebration Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 C butter

1/4 C shortening

1/2 C sugar

1/2 C brown sugar

2 eggs

1 t imitation butter flavor

2 t vanilla extract 

1 oz pkg vanilla pudding

1 1/2 C flour

1/2 C white cake mix

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

2/3 C white chocolate chips

1/4 to 1/3 C sprinkles (any kind you choose!)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Cream together butter and shortening for 1 minute.  Add the sugars and beat until fluffy and light in color.  Add the eggs, one at a time.  Add vanilla and butter flavoring along with the pudding.

Sift together flour, cake mix, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix well.  Add in the white chocolate chips and sprinkles.  Scoop the cookies onto baking sheets and bake for  8-11 minutes or until done.  Let them cool on wire racks.  

Enjoy your celebration cookies even if it isn't your birthday!

A Non-Italian's Wedding Soup

Roasted Kale Wedding Soup

This is a variation of one of my favorite soups.  It uses spinach and delicious roasted kale in place of the traditional escarole and chicken meatballs instead of beef.  This is a wonderfully comforting soup especially on a snowy winter afternoon!

The first step is to separate the kale from the tough stems and roast it in the oven.  It roasts until it is crispy and brown.  

At this point, you essentially have kale chips which are hard to resist.  They're very tasty, so try to control the urge to munch away too much of it!

Now, you just have to start building the soup starting with your onions and veggies.

While everything is browning, it is a perfect time to make the meatballs.  Adding the milk to the breadcrumbs is a key step to making sure they are moist and tender.  I used a small scooper to make sure all of the meatballs are the same size (I divided each scoop into 2 meatballs).  Make sure they are small.  You don't want to have to use a knife when you're eating soup!

The liquid I use is my own homemade broth.  I make a bunch and then double bag it and freeze it.  This makes it easy to pull out of the freezer when I need it.

 This is my other secret weapon...a parmesan rind.  I bought a small chunk of parmigiano reggiano the had the rind still on it.  I cut away the rind and let it melt into the soup as it simmers.  It makes the soup very silky and gives it a subtle creaminess.  The cheese that I cut away from the rind was extra to grate and sprinkle over the top of the soup.

 For the pasta, I chose ditalini because it was the smallest pasta available at my grocery store. Choose any small pasta you like.  I do recommend making it separately and pouring the soup over it so that the pasta doesn't absorb all the liquid in the soup and get slimy.

Roasted Kale Wedding Soup


Ingredients:


1 bunch kale
1 large bunch raw spinach
3 T olive oil
2 t kosher salt
1 t freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onion
2 carrots or 20 baby carrots
2 ribs of celery
1 clove garlic
1/2 lemon
1/2 C dry white wine
7-10 C low sodium or homemade chicken broth
1 lb lean ground chicken
1 t sage, chopped
1 1/2 C breadcrumbs
1/4 C milk
1 egg beaten
1 t parsley, chopped
1/2 C grated parmesan cheese
1 small parmigiano reggiano rind
1 lb ditalini


Directions:


Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Remove ribs from kale and put on a foil lined baking sheet.  Toss with 2 T olive oil, 1 t kosher salt and 1/2 t ground black pepper.  Put in the oven to roast for 12-15 minutes stirring once during cooking.  Remove from the oven and allow kale to cool.


Pour 1 T olive oil in a large soup pot over medium high heat.  Chop onion, carrots and celery and add to the pot with remaining salt and pepper.  Cook until the veggies are tender.  Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Add wine and lemon juice and cook for a few minutes more.  Finally, add about 5 C of the chicken broth (add more later if you need more liquid).  Bring to a boil.


While the broth is heating up, make the meatballs.  In a bowl, combine the breadcrumbs with the milk, cheese, sage and parsley (I added some salt here to season the meatballs).  Stir until the everything is moistened.  Add the chicken and beaten egg and stir with your hand a few times. Do not overwork the meat, just barely incorporate the ingredients.  Roll the mixture into small, uniform meatballs.  Drop the meatballs into the now boiling soup.  Continue to boil until the meatballs are just cooked through (about 10 min).  Add more broth as needed to cover meatballs.  Turn down the heat to medium low.  Wilt in the kale and spinach and add the pamigiano reggiano rind.  Allow the soup to simmer for another 20 min or so.


While the soup it simmering, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the ditalini until al dente.  Drain and set aside.


To serve, put some ditalini in a bowl and ladle the soup over the pasta.  Top with grated parmesan and savor a comforting bowl of soup!